M0014165: Spirit canoe, obtained in Alaska

Previous title, replaced January 2022: Spirit canoe, Alaska.

Wooden canoe resting on two carved wooden animals. Among the Kwakwaka?wakw people, also known as the Kwakiutl people, of British Columbia it was customary to release a spirit canoe in the water, when a body was buried near a shore, in order to send the soul or spirit of the dead person on its journey. The item was purchased by the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum and accessioned in 1936 (accession number R5232/1936)

August 1955

1 photograph glass plate negative; 10.2 x 12.7 cm

Wellcome Collection holds the accession register which provides an entry for the item: acc. number R5232/1936 (image 54)

Copyright held by Wellcome Collection

Catalogue data comes from a combination of entries in the original glass plate registers, metadata created when the glass plates were digitised in the early 2000s and enhancements made by the cataloguer in 2022.

Please consult the digitised version as this item is fragile. Email library@wellcomecollection.org to request access to the physical item.