Provenience note: collection apparently purchased or collected by McLean in Sitka and vicinity circa 1884.

Listed on page 45 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)".

Provenience note: Anthropology catalogue ledger book lists a locality of Alaska for E67931 - 68019. Catalogue cards list a locality of Sitka. Alaska. It is unclear which is correct, though it is probable that the collection was purchased in Sitka.

As of 2009, E67979 consists of a dagger and two sheaths, and E67980, E67981, E67983, and E67984 consist of 1 dagger, each, though originally catalogued as including sheaths. It is possible that one of the sheaths currently numbered E67979 may actually belong with the dagger E67980, E67981, E67983 or E67984?Provenience note: Anthropology catalogue ledger book lists a locality of Alaska for E67931 - 68019. Catalogue cards list a locality of Sitka. Alaska. It is unclear which is correct, though it is probable that the collection was purchased in Sitka.

Listed on page 45 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 card: "Illus. in USNM AR, 1893; Pl. 7 & 8; p. 636." From 19th or early 20th century exhibit label with card: "Body Armor - Breast protector, made of slats and rods of wood woven together by means of fine cord; shield shape; lower part truncated; principal part forms a continuous line under the arms and across the breast and back. The front and back of yoke are made of separate short pieces of wood, and sewed on by means of a strip or rawhide 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide. The front and back parts are woven separate and connected by leather strings, at the sides and under the arms. Thlinkit Inidans. Sitka, Alaska, 1883. Collected by J. J. McLean."Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=171, retrieved 3-31-2012: Slat armor.

List in accession file has an entry for "2 doz. pieces ivory tusks claws & teeth sharpened & drilled", which may refer to some of the basket contents? List in accession file also includes "Ivory needles etc."