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Portfolios%3D%22361%22%20and%20Disp_Obj_Type%3D%22Textiles%22
Textiles
Chilkat Robe (Naaxéin)
Tlingit artist, (active )
Tlingit artist
United States
Primary
52 3/4 x 62 1/2 in. (134 x 158.8 cm)
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overall
overall
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overall
overall
Wool
Wool
Fringe is entirely reproduction.
Tlingit; made in Alaska
0
0
Native American, Native American art, textiles
Textiles
For years, Indigenous activists have led efforts to reclaim the remains of their ancestors and sacred cultural objects currently housed in museums, universities, and other cultural institutions.
In 1990, U.S. federal law established the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) to facilitate this process. In December 2023, NAGPRA ruled that museums must obtain consent from lineal descendants, Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations before allowing any exhibition of, access to, or research on these objects.
MAG has removed works from display that are classified under the statute in compliance and in support of the repatriation of these items to their original caretakers, including this work.
Living along the Chilkat River of Southern Alaska, the Chilkat people are a single kwan, or geographical grouping, of the larger Tlingit culture. Male and female clan leaders honor their ancestors, both human and animal, by wearing Chilkat robes at festivals called potlatches and other important events. The Chilkat robe (or naaxéin) is a woven ceremonial cape traditionally worn and danced by the chief and other important members of Tlingit society. When danced, the motions of the performer include the dramatic manipulation of the long fringe, further enlivening the animal forms on the robe.
The patterns on Chilkat robes represent animals important to Tlingit clans. These designs manipulate and rearrange specific animal forms, often adding additional faces and multiple eyes. This Chilkat robe features a diving humpback whale in the center panel. The whale is pictured both from above and in profile. Seated ravens shown in profile fill the two side panels of the robe. The arrangement of the overall design takes into account the position of these individual components when the robe is worn.
[Gallery label text, 2009]
1968.35
item
Memorial Art Gallery
9/8/1999
glossy
full
8 x 10
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negative
full
4 x 5
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68.35SL1
slide
full
2 x 2
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68.35DI#1
digital image
full
2 x 2
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/68.35_A1.jpg
69.35DI#2
digital image
Front
1/13/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/68.35_A2.jpg
69.35DI#3
digital image
Detail
1/13/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/68.35_A3.jpg
69.35DI#4
digital image
Detail
1/13/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/68.35_A4.jpg
69.35DI#5
digital image
Detail
1/13/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/68.35_A5.jpg
69.35DI#6
digital image
Detail
1/13/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/68.35_A6.jpg
69.35DI#7
digital image
Detail
1/13/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/68.35_A7.jpg
69.35DI#8
condition
digital image
Verso
1/9/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Conservation photos/68.35/68.35_C1.JPG
68.35DI#9
cond
digital image
Verso
1/9/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Conservation photos/68.35/68.35_C2.JPG
68.35TR1
transparency
Front
4 x 5
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http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
68.35DI#10
digital image
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/68.35_A8.jpg