Listed on page 46 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)".

E231011: Sword “Nootka, West Coast Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Large piece of whales bone formed into a club-sword ornamented with four circular carvings of human faces and with a human face in profile at end of handle.” (Catalog card)Comment from Graduate Student Research Paper, "A Report on Accession #42610 of the National Museum of Natural History", written by Athena Hsieh in April 2012, for the class "Anthropology in the Museum" taught by NMNH Curator, Dr. J. Daniel Rogers for the George Washington University. Approved for inclusion into notes by Dr. Igor Krupnik. Dr. Krupnik and NMNH has not verified the contents of the comment below, and suggests future researchers verify the remarks before citing Ms. Hsieh. The complete paper is attached to the accession record of this object in EMu. "Labeled in the ledger books as a “whales-fin club,” it is likely that the club is carved from killer whale bone. There is no documentation in the Smithsonian's Annual Report that shows that Swanton came into contact with tribes besides the Tlingit and Haida; hence, the Nootka description is suspicious. The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture has a collection of eighteen whale bone clubs and fragments from different Northwest coast tribes, including the Nootka (4). This sword does not look similar to any in the Burke's collections, and the two Nootka swords at the Burke also share few similarities. Another Nootka sword in the Brooklyn Museum collection (5) clearly demonstrates that these whale's bone clubs were prevalent in many Northwest coast tribes, and that they all vary in design. It is difficult to determine what the human faces, two on each side, symbolize without any cultural context, and without proper documentation or provenance, it is not possible to attribute one of these clubs to any particular tribe. This club may uniquely highlight the power of trade in the exchange of ideas between groups. In appearance, it is very similar to a Banks Patu, an object that was once also in the collection at NMNH. The Banks Patu one of a series of forty brass clubs cast from an original basalt club that Joseph Banks acquired in New Zealand during James Cook's first expedition, between 1768 and 1771 (6). Banks had originally intended to use these reproductions as trade items on a second expedition led by Cook, but did not go as originally planned. However, it is thought that Banks gave some of his replicas to a commander on Cook's ship to use as trade items or to sell (Kaeppler 2005, 152). Cook's ships stopped at a number of locations in the Pacific Northwest, including Nootka Sound. There are at least two eighteenth-century first-hand accounts by Colnett and Meares, two fur traders in the region, of seeing Banks patus with the Tsimshian tribe (Burgess lecture). By the time Swanton was conducting his field research in the region, one century had already passed since the Banks Patu was first introduced to the Northwest coast. This would have been ample time for the concept of the patu to percolate and let tribes and individuals create their own versions of the club. Citations: Kaeppler, Adrienne L. 2005. “Two Polynesian repatriation enigmas at the Smithsonian Institution.” Journal of Museum Ethnography 17: 152-162. (4)- Link to Website: http://collections.burkemuseum.org/ethnology/advanced.php?archives=0&lc=nwc&NAME=club&CULTURE_OF_ORIGIN=&MAKER_OR_ARTIST=&MATERIALS=bone&TECHNIQUES=&SUBJECT=&SOURCE=&x=17&y=12 (5)- Link to Website: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/132814/Bone_Club_Chituut# (6)- Burgess, Laurie. March 21, 2012. Lecture for Anthropology in the Museum (ANTH 6201.10). The George Washington University. "

From card: "(A & D) Illus. Bu. Ethno. Ann. Report #26, p. 420, fig. 106. Note: Apparently prior to Dec. 1969 these specimens had not been numbered. The former dimensions and quantity (1) were also in error as shown in the old catalog book. Previous attributions to James Swan now seem to have little basis. -GP (George Phebus). Bear crest designs. See: The Far North, Nat'l. Gallery of Art, Washington, 1973, Pl. 235, pg. 188-189 (where all 4 are illustrated). Loaned to the National Gallery of Art October 20, (19)72. Returned 5-29-(19)73. A & C Loaned to Renwick 7/28/(19)82. Returned 1983. (Excerpt from exhibit catalogue for Renwick exhibit, called Celebration, A World of Art and Ritual, is taped to back of card. Objects are described as:) House screens, ca. 1850-1900, Tlingit Indians; Wrangell, Alaska, wood, fiber lashing, red and black paint, non-Indian frames." ... cont., see card.According to Eric Hollinger, Repatriation Office, Feb. 2007, E233498 was originally a pair of house screens measuring 7ft by 14 ft each. Both screens were sawed in half after they arrived at the museum and framed. Red borders were painted on each of the four sections and the same red paint was then applied to touch-up the red paint of the figures (based on Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute XRF analysis). Screen E233498A originally articulated with E233498D but they were separated when they were sawed in two within the museum. E233498A was on the left and E233498D was on the right. E233498B was originally articulated with E233498C before it also was sawed in two pieces within the museum. E233498B was on the right side and E233498C was on the left side. The screens were purchased by John R. Swanton from Mrs. Robert Shadesty in Wrangell, Alaska in 1904. See the Repatriation Office Tlingit case report (Hollinger et al. 2005).Florence Sheakley, Shirley Kendall, and Alan Zuboff, all three elders, made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. Screens like these were used in houses to separate compartments, with screens in the back and the front of the house. Florence gives the Tlingit word for these screens (rv_Tlingit_20170320_004; 9:59). Alan pointed out that since there was no smoke line or sun bleaching, they were likely used indoors. Shirley commented that screens like this were no longer being made when she was growin up.

From card: "(A & D) Illus. Bu. Ethno. Ann. Report #26, p. 420, fig. 106. Note: Apparently prior to Dec. 1969 these specimens had not been numbered. The former dimensions and quantity (1) were also in error as shown in the old catalog book. Previous attributions to James Swan now seem to have little basis. -GP (George Phebus). Bear crest designs. See: The Far North, Nat'l. Gallery of Art, Washington, 1973, Pl. 235, pg. 188-189 (where all 4 are illustrated). Loaned to the National Gallery of Art October 20, (19)72. Returned 5-29-(19)73. A & C Loaned to Renwick 7/28/(19)82. Returned 1983. (Excerpt from exhibit catalogue for Renwick exhibit, called Celebration, A World of Art and Ritual, is taped to back of card. Objects are described as:) House screens, ca. 1850-1900, Tlingit Indians; Wrangell, Alaska, wood, fiber lashing, red and black paint, non-Indian frames." ... cont., see card.According to Eric Hollinger, Repatriation Office, Feb. 2007, E233498 was originally a pair of house screens measuring 7ft by 14 ft each. Both screens were sawed in half after they arrived at the museum and framed. Red borders were painted on each of the four sections and the same red paint was then applied to touch-up the red paint of the figures (based on Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute XRF analysis). Screen E233498A originally articulated with E233498D but they were separated when they were sawed in two within the museum. E233498A was on the left and E233498D was on the right. E233498B was originally articulated with E233498C before it also was sawed in two pieces within the museum. E233498B was on the right side and E233498C was on the left side. The screens were purchased by John R. Swanton from Mrs. Robert Shadesty in Wrangell, Alaska in 1904. See the Repatriation Office Tlingit case report (Hollinger et al. 2005).Florence Sheakley, Shirley Kendall, and Alan Zuboff, all three elders, made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. Screens like these were used in houses to separate compartments, with screens in the back and the front of the house. Florence gives the Tlingit word for these screens (rv_Tlingit_20170320_004; 9:59). Alan pointed out that since there was no smoke line or sun bleaching, they were likely used indoors. Shirley commented that screens like this were no longer being made when she was growin up.