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Photo: Paul Macapia
Aam'halait (headdress frontlet)
Photo: Paul Macapia

Aam'halait (headdress frontlet)

Dateca. 1860
Label TextAmong 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.
Object number91.1.47
ProvenanceJulia 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 CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, The Box of Daylight, Sept. 15, 1983 - Jan. 8, 1984. Paris, France, Fondation Cartier pour l'art Contemporain, Comme un Oiseau, June 14 - Oct. 13, 1996. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, YOU ARE ON INDIGENOUS LAND: places/displaces, Apr. 6, 2019 - June 28, 2020. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, American Art: The Stories We Carry, Oct. 20, 2022 - ongoing.Published ReferencesFair, Susan W. and Rosita Worl, Eds., Celebration 2000 - Restoring Balance Through Culture, Sealaska Heritage Foundation, Juneau, AK, 2000 The Spirit Within: Northwest Coast Native Art from the John H. Hauberg Collection, Seattle Art Museum, 1995, pp. 158-159 Holm, Bill, Box of Daylight: Northwest Coast Indian Art, Seattle Art Museum, University of Washington Press, 1983, no. 6, p. 22, illus. Other Documentation: 1898 photograph of frontlet being worn by a Kwakiutl, daughter of Lagius, at Alert Bay. Pierce, Jerald. "How Seattle Art Museum is working to make its American art galleries more inclusive." The Seattle Times, October 25, 2022: reproduced, https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/visual-arts/how-seattle-art-museum-is-working-to-make-its-american-art-galleries-more-inclusive. [A version of this article appeared in print on October 30 with the headline: "Re-imagining American art: Seattle Art Museum offers a more expansive, inclusive look at U.S. art" (not reproduced).]
Credit LineGift of John H. Hauberg
Dimensions9 3/8 x 9 x 3 in. (23.81 x 22.86 x 7.62 cm)
MediumMaple wood, abalone shell, paint
Photo: Paul Macapia
ca. 1890
Object number: 91.1.48
Photo: Paul Macapia
ca. 1860
Object number: 91.1.37
Photo: Susan Cole
Haisla
ca. 1830
Object number: 91.1.39
Photo: Paul Macapia
First Nations, Nuxalk
ca. 1880
Object number: 91.1.34
Forehead Mask of Raven
First Nations, Nuxalk
ca. 1880
Object number: 91.1.71
Photo: Paul Macapia
ca. 1850
Object number: 91.1.51
Gaylth (dish)
ca. 1860
Object number: 91.1.52
Photo: Paul Macapia
John Yeltadzi
ca. 1890
Object number: 91.1.65
Photo: Paul Macapia
ca. 1860
Object number: 91.1.83
Photo: Paul Macapia
First Nations, Nuu-chah-nulth, Hesquiat
ca. 1900
Object number: 91.1.70