Finely woven of spruce roots, this small child’s hat is painted with a split image of a whale encircling the crown and brim, its eyes facing the front, fins at the side, tail flukes at the back. Hat has a slightly concave top, with a red painted circle on it, and a wide brim. Woven with various twined weaves; the rim is braided; the inner headband is twill weave.

• Iconographic Meaning

  Said to have a 'slug’s trail pattern'. The weaver’s idenfication may be encoded in the red circle on the top — often the place where the male painter would apply the weaver's “signature.” To wear such a hat would have indicated the child’s ties to family and clan, and therefore their connection to both human and supernatural ancestors. The weaver would have learned this art from her own female relatives — not only the complex technique of weaving its flared, conical form, but also the process that preceded it.

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• Type of Item hat
• Culture Haida
• Material spruce root, paint
• Manufacturing Technique twined, painted
• Measurements height 12.0 cm, diameter 25.5 cm (overall)

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• Previous Owner Elspeth McConnell
• Received from Elspeth McConnell

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• Made in British Columbia

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• Creation Date before 1900
• Ownership Date before April 12, 2018
• Acquisition Date on April 12, 2018

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• Item Classes basketry
• Condition good
• Accession Number 3261/0117