Cleveland Museum of Art

Dagger (Gwálaa)

Date

late 1800s–early 1900s

Medium

Metal, shell, leather, fiber, ivory or horn

Culture

Native North America, Northwest Coast, Alaska, Tlingit

Department

Art of the Americas

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

After Europeans introduced firearms, the Indigenous Northwest Coast dagger transformed from a weapon into a status symbol worn in a sheath that hung from the neck. That may be the case with this example, which depicts a head surmounted by a fish, perhaps a salmon.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.