Stone Charm Carved Fish
date: label: Accession Date
content: 9 Feb 1885
label: Collection Date
content: 1884
name: label: Collector
content: Sgt. John J. McLean
label: Donor Name
content: Sgt. John J. McLean
notes: label: Notes
content: At one time, a paper label with the word "fish" written on it was glued to the underside of this object. It has been removed by Anthropology Conservation in 2008 prior to the artifact going on exhibit.
label: Notes
content: This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.
label: Notes
content: Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=614, retrieved 3-31-2012: Charm, Tlingit. Red ocher paint fills the engraved lines of this stone fish charm. Although its history is unknown, it may be a “rubbing amulet” used to scratch or massage the mouth, body, and head. In many situations it was considered dangerous to touch the body directly. For example, when hostages (called "deer") were exchanged to end conflicts they could not scratch themselves with their fingernails without “agitating more war,” as Yakutat Elders told anthropologist Frederica De Laguna in the 1950s. A stone rubbed against the mouth prevented trouble that could be caused by speech.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 3 Feb 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Baranof Island / Sitka, Alexander Archipelago, Alaska, United States, 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: 015716
label: USNM Number
content: E74943-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Charm