FROM CARD: "HEAD-DRESS, (BATL-KUPTL-KIAR-KOOB). FOURTEEN STRINGS OF SHELL, DENTALIUM INDIANORUM, ROVE THROUGH STRIPS OF LEATHER ALTERNATELY 2 AND 3 INS. LONG. BETWEEN THE ENDS, WHICH ARE JOINED TOGETHER, IS A BAND OF BEADS OF GOLDEN AND PEARLY LUSTER. WITH ENDS FASTENED ON OPPOSITE SIDES IS PENDANT A CHIN-STRAP OF DENTALIUM, RED, BLUE, AND GOLDEN BEADS. THE HEAD-DRESS IS WORN, WITH THE BEADS ON LEFT SIDE, IN THE CEREMONIAL DANCES OF THE MAKAH INDIANS, CAPE FLATTERY. CIRCUMFERENCE, 2 FT. WIDTH, 3 INS. STRAP, 18 INS. LONG. WASHINGTON TERRITORY, 1878 [sic]. 30,097. COLLECTED BY JAMES G. SWAN."A letter in the accession file dated August 4, 1876, from collector James G. Swan of Port Townsend, Washington talks about the origin of E30097 and E30098: "[These objects] ... were made expressly for me in my office by a Makah ... [woman]. I procured the material and she made them under my supervision."

FROM CARD: "CEDAR BARK. BELONG TO 2 MASKS NO. 169105-6."

FROM CARD: "MADE OF NARROW BUNDLES OF CEDARBARK, HUNG OVER A THICK CORD AT THE TOP, AND BOUND TOGETHER WITH STRIPS OF CLOTH TWISTED AROUND EACH BUNDLE ALL THE WAY AROUND THE CAPE WHICH IS MADE AS A CONTINUOUS STRIP. THESE STRIPS OF BINDING CONTINUE DOWN THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE CAPE, EVERY HALF INCH. IT WAS MADE TO PUT OVER THE HEAD AND RESTS ON THE SHOULDERS. THIS SPECIMEN WAS INCLUDED IN THIS ACCESSION BECAUSE A TAG OF THIS COS. WAS ON IT WITHOUT ANY OTHER NUMBER. R. ELDER, JR." Formerly on exhibit in NHB Hall 9, Case 29. Exhibit label identified it as a rain cape.Cape woven of inner bark of the cedar and, near the bottom, strips of cotton cloth. A row of cotton cloth is also woven into the cedar near the neck. The neck is bound with a leather strip, wound around it.There is some question whether this is actually part of accession 12296. It was formerly on exhibit in NMNH Exhibit Hall 9, case 29, and the exhibit book noted about it (presumably based on a tag with the artifact?) that it was "Swan # 25", which would imply it was collected/donated by James G. Swan. However, no tag with that information was located when it was removed from exhibit in 2004. E72662 from Accession No. 12690 is a cape from Swan that was not located during the inventory, and its field number was 25, so it is possible that the cape currently called E55800A is really E72662.

Shgen George, weaver, Shirley Kendall, elder, and Florence Sheakley, elder, made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. This blanket has a diving whale design. The white faces are not typical to this design, but the center bottom design is. The sharpness of the fringe suggests to Schgen that this was made in 1970s. On this object the side braids are attached on the side, not the top, which is unsual and it's not clear why they were attached this way. Shirley heard from another weaver that the white face may indicate this is alive or a spirit. She commented that there are concerns about using these designs in regalia, and that they shouldn't be separated from their bodies if they are the spirit.According to Gwen Sauser during visit on 8/29/24, this object was possibly weaved by Jennie Thlunaut, who used blue-yellow checkerboard pattern as her signature.

FROM CARD: "2ND NAEK LAGAE OF XANYADGAMGILOS. ILLUS. IN USNM REPT, 1895; FIG. 89; P. 455."

The strap has an accompanying piece of leather, which has an old label glued on: "Nanaimo Indians, Vancouver Island, B.C.. Shoulder strap for carrying burthens [burdens]."

SI ARCHIVE DISTRIBUTION DOCUMENTS SAY [how many?] SENT TO AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, 1885.Listed on page 49 in "The Exhibits of the Smithsonian Institution at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California, 1915", in section "Arts of the Northwest Coast Tribes (Tools)".

FROM OLD 19TH CENTURY OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: "HEAD-DRESS.---SKULL CAP MADE OF FIVE TRIANGULAR PIECES OF BLUE AND RED CLOTH, ON THE EXTERIOR PART OF WHICH ARE SEWED NUMEROUS LONG LOCKS OF DARK-BROWN HUMAN HAIR. FITTED WITH STRINGS ON SIDE AND WORN AS DANCING WIG. SITKA-KWAHN INDIANS. CIRCUMFERENCE, 24 INS. LENGTH, 24 INS. SITKA, ALASKA, 1876. 20,781. COLLECTED BY J. G. SWAN."