page_title: Dentalium shell
hierarchical_section_title: Dentalium shell
caption_attribution_description: English: Choker and Bracelet In the Pacific Northwest, dentalia shells were only available from the Pacific coast of Vancouver Island. They were an indicator of wealth and were highly prized. Dentalia shells were used as decorative elements on clothing accessories and for personal adornment. The wawáq’aqt or choker is from the Rydryck Collection, combines dentalia shells, blue glass beads and brass beads sewn onto a single piece of leather with buckskin ties. The bracelet on the left is from the Spalding-Allen Collection combines dentalia shells, black pony beads and leather spacers with buckskin ties. It is assembled with sinew. Choker Plateau c 1875-1900 Shell (Dentalium pretosium), glass beads, sinew, brass beads. L 33 cm. Nez Perce National Historical Park, NEPE 2194 Bracelet 1830s Shell (Dentalium pretosium), glass beads, leather. L 26 cm. Nez Perce National Historical Park, NEPE 8762
context_page_description: The word dentalium, as commonly used by Native American artists and anthropologists, refers to tooth shells or tusk shells used in indigenous jewelry, adornment, and commerce in western Canada and the United States. These tusk shells are a kind of seashell, specifically the shells of scaphopod mollusks. The name "dentalium" is based on the scientific name for the genus Dentalium, but because the taxonomy has changed over time, not all of the species used are still placed in that genus; however, all of the species are certainly in the family Dentaliidae.
  Dentalium shells were used by Inuit, First Nations, and Native Americans as an international trade item. This usage is found along the western coast of Canada and along the Pacific Ocean coast of the northwest United States extending southward to Southern California. Traditionally, the shells of Antalis pretiosum
context_section_description: The word dentalium, as commonly used by Native American artists and anthropologists, refers to tooth shells or tusk shells used in indigenous jewelry, adornment, and commerce in western Canada and the United States. These tusk shells are a kind of seashell, specifically the shells of scaphopod mollusks. The name "dentalium" is based on the scientific name for the genus Dentalium, but because the taxonomy has changed over time, not all of the species used are still placed in that genus; however, all of the species are certainly in the family Dentaliidae.
  Dentalium shells were used by Inuit, First Nations, and Native Americans as an international trade item. This usage is found along the western coast of Canada and along the Pacific Ocean coast of the northwest United States extending southward to Southern California. Traditionally, the shells of Antalis pretiosum (previously known as Dentalium pretiosum, the precious dentalium (a species which occurs from Alaska to Baja California) were harvested from deep waters around the Pacific Northwest coast of North America, especially off the coast of Vancouver Island. Today most dentalium shells in the shell trade are smaller, more brittle, and are harvested from coasts off Asia — i.e. they are shells of Indo-Pacific species of scaphopods.
caption: Plateau dentalium choker and bracelet, from Nez Perce National Historical Park, 19th century, made using Antalis pretiosum shells
exif: {"Image XPComment": "[]"}