This is a view of one end of the feast bowl appearing at the top of the page. It is carved of cedar and inlaid about the rim with round shell beads. The end shown here depicts a shark, while the opposite side shows bear. The two long sides depict what appear to be oystercatchers.

Food boxes such as this, and the one illustrated below, are owned and displayed by hereditary nobles at great ceremonies. They were traditionally used to hold fish oil, a delicacy present at every feast, or other food stuffs on ceremonial occasions.

This food box is carved of yew or alder. On two opposite sides appears the carved face of a beaver-like animal.

Clan crest hats are valuable possessions of a clan and always include images of important spirit animals or other supernatural beings (in this case the eagle) associated with the clan. This example is a reproduction, but such hats are traditionally owned by a clan and are cared for and worn by the hereditary chiefs on important occasions, such as at potlatches. They are sometimes called potlatch hats because chiefs may commemorate each potlatch they have hosted by putting a basketry ring on the hat. In this contemporary example, the rings are carved of wood.

Masks such as this are worn in the dance dramas of the Northwest Coast cultures and represent the spirit power of the animal depicted. This power is held as an inherited privilege by a chief or other high ranking noble, and only such an individual may wear or perform in such a mask.

This contemporary work of art depicts a wolf. Inside the mouth crouches a frog-like animal, and human hair tassels adorn the tops of the wolf's ears.

This reproduction of a shaman's rattle is carved of maple wood and is the effigy of an oystercatcher, whose body terminates in a mountain goat facing the opposite direction. A human figure, the shaman, lies on the back of the bird and draws spirit power from the long tongue of the mountain goat. On the belly of the oystercatcher is a killerwhale representation. The eyes of all the figures are set with abalone shell.

Rattles such as is illustrated here were traditionally used by shamans in curing ceremonies. The oystercatcher is an ideal assistant to the shaman, as it inhabits the shoreline -- the border between water and land -- and thus parallels the shaman's role between two worlds -- human and spirit. The mountain goat may carry similar symbolism, as it too lives in a borderline environment between mountain and sky. It also leaps across treacherous chasms, as does the shaman in his visits to the spirit world. Through the touching of tongues, spirit power is transferred from animal spirit to human.

Such shaman's rattles sometimes became symbols of the rank and power of chiefs in the late 19th century, and chiefs are often shown holding them.

5 1/2" diameter x 3" deep; handle 4 1/8" long

This is a reproduction of a two-faced, globular shaman's rattle, carved of maple. The two faces are humanoid. Globular rattles were traditionally reserved for shaman's work, although they also were used by participants in certain Winter Ceremonies in which all dancers were viewed as "shamans."