Aam'halait (headdress frontlet)
ca. 1860
Among Northwest Coast First Peoples, artworks can be symbols of identity, storehouses for knowledge and memories, signifiers of tangible and intangible properties of the owner, markers of family history and lineage, and validation of claims to particular lands. This headpiece has acquired an esteemed history gathered over 200 years and 300 miles. Likely created by a Tsimshian artist for a chief, it traveled from there to Nuxalk homelands as a gift to their leader, Tlakwamot. By 1898, it was the property of the Kwakwaka’wakw (‘Namgis) chief, Lagiyus. It continues to be memorialized as a family treasure by living descendants.
Maple wood, abalone shell, paint
9 3/8 x 9 x 3 in. (23.81 x 22.86 x 7.62 cm)
Gift of John H. Hauberg
91.1.47
Provenance: Julia Hunt Nelson (daughter of Chief Mungo Martin-Kwakwaka'wakw), Alert Bay, British Columbia , until 1971; Michael R. Johnson, Seattle, Washington, 1971; John H. Hauberg, Seattle, Washington, 1971-1991; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1991
Photo: Paul Macapia