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Xoots l'oo shádaa (Brown bear helmet)

Photo: Paul Macapia

Xoots l'oo shádaa (Brown bear helmet)

ca. 1850

Native American

Tlingit

Early Europeans who encountered the Tlingits were awed by the elaborate armor worn by warriors, including the decorated helmets carved from burl wood. This one was originally fitted with a “collar” of wood that, when worn with the helmet, left only the eyes of the wearer exposed. Oral traditions place this helmet at the Battle of Sitka in 1802, a temporary Tlingits’ victory over the Russians.
Spruce, opercula, bear teeth, skin, paint, abalone shell
Diam.: 13 in.
Gift of John H. Hauberg
91.1.51
Provenance: J. J. Klejman, New York, New York, until 1967; John H. Hauberg, Seattle, Washington, 1967-1991; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
Photo: Paul Macapia
location
Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryBellingham, Washington, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Arts of a Vanished Era, June 12 - October 31, 1968
Published ReferencesThe Spirit Within: Northwest Coast Native Art from the John H. Hauberg Collection, Seattle Art Museum, 1995, pg. 38

Published References: Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Arts of a Vanished Era, Bellingham, Washington, p.34, 1968

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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