Killer Whale Crest Hat

This object is part of the Education and Outreach collection, some of which are in the Q?rius science education center and available to see.

2012

This hat is an exact replica of an original Tlingit Dakl'aweidi (Killer Whale) clan crest hat made in 1900 in Angoon, Alaska. The hat is in the form of a killer whale, the primary clan crest of the Dakl'aweidi clan. The whale is carved from alder and shaped as if it is emerging from the ocean with hair, abalone shell inlays, and ermine representing water falling off of and around the body of the whale. The original hat was repatriated from the museum in 2005 to Dakl'aweidi Clan Leader Mark Jacobs, Jr. and the reproduction was created with the permission of the current Clan Leader and caretaker of the hat, Edwell John, Jr. The original hat was "at.oow" to the Tlingit, meaning it was a clan crest object of immense ceremonial, spiritual and political importance. This replica hat is not "at.oow" because it has not gone through the formal Tlingit process of being commissioned and made by the opposite moiety and publicly dedicated. The replica was made in 2012 in the Smithsonian Office of Exhibits Central by model makers Lora Collins and John Zastrow. The clan has the right to check this replica hat out and dance with it for important occasions.

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10 Dec 2020