M0014165: Spirit canoe, obtained in Alaska

Date:
August 1955
Reference:
WT/D/1/20/1/126/61
Part of:
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Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

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Credit

M0014165: Spirit canoe, obtained in Alaska. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.

About this work

Also known as

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

Description

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)

Publication/Creation

August 1955

Physical description

1 photograph glass plate negative; 10.2 x 12.7 cm

Related material

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

Copyright note

Copyright held by Wellcome Collection

Notes

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.

Terms of use

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

Where to find it

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