Totem-Pole
date: label: Collection Date
content: 1875
name: label: Collector
content: James G. Swan
label: Donor Name
content: Accession Number Unknown
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "After an extensive survey of the totem poles in the USNM collections, it is probable that this specimen is the pole exhibited opposite totem pole #18925 near the entrance to halls 9 and 11. The specimen was apparently collected by Swan for the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876 and can be noted in photos of the exhibit. Based on the USNM NW Coast collections and current NW Coast literature, the treatment of the specimen resembles southern Tlingit-work. 6/6/68 GP. Earlier opinions have been noted as follows: 1882 accessioned.Haida. 1962 V. Garfield.Tlingit. 1962 M. Barbeau. Haida. 1962 W. Holm. Tlingit. Loaned to Renwick 1/27/82. Returned 1983. Illus.: p.58, pl.15, Celebrations Catalogue, Smithsonian Press, 1982. Totem pole, ca.1850-75. Tlingit Indians; Alaska. Cedar, red and black paint 176 x 20 [inches] (447 x 50.8 [cm]). NMNH 54297; Probably collected by James G. Swan."
label: Notes
content: From Card: "In 1990 this totem pole is on exhibit in Natural History Museum Exhibit Hall 9/11 with the following label: "Totem Pole, Probably Tlingit, southeast Alaska. The figures represent a man, a bear, and a frog."
label: Notes
content: As of 2004, totem pole is on exhibit in right side of NMNH IMAX Theater lobby. 2009 exhibit label: "Heraldic pole, Queen Charlotte Islands, Canada. Haida [sic] noble's heraldic pole illustrating ancestral history. Top figure wears chief's hat showing family wealth. Collected in 1875 by James Swan and Haida artist Johnny Kit Elswa for 1876 Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia."
label: Notes
content: As of 2018, pole is on exhibit in NMNH Sant Ocean Hall.
label: Notes
content: This pole is part of a group of poles, E54297 – 54302, collected by James G. Swan in 1875, though they were not catalogued by the Smithsonian till 1882. They were all catalogued as Haida, from the Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C., however that does not seem correct for E54297. Robin Wright, Professor and Curator Emerita, University of Washington, has attributed the pole as Southern Tlingit. She notes that a similar pole is shown in a photo of Tuxekan. On that pole the bear is sitting on a monster head, instead of another bear as in E54927. She also indicates that the Tuxekan poles often have the square base rather than a rounded pole. See Ketchikan Museums, photo KM 77.3.5.450. Steven C. Brown, former curator at the Seattle Art Museum, identified the pole as Southern Tlingit in 2005, and thought it could be attributed to the Tuxekan area. Steve Henrikson, Curator at the Alaska State Museum, is also of the opinion that it is more Tlingit looking than Haida.
label: Notes
content: A photo of this pole on display at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 is in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution Archives: Photo ID 90-7265, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 61, Folder: 5, https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_8250 . Pole partially visible in back left of photo.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 28 Mar 2025
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Alaska (not certain), United States (not certain), North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Tlingit (?)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 000000
label: USNM Number
content: E54297-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Crest Column
physicalDescription: label: Unknown - Object
content: 447 cm
label: Unknown - Object
content: 50.8 cm
label: Height - Object
content: 5 m