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Tlingit arts in Ketchikan, Alaska - part one

Button blanket - eagle/raven design, 1980
The Tlingit (/ˈklɪŋkɨt/) are a native people group of the Southeast Alaskan coast.  The name translates to "People of the Tides".  In the town of Ketchikan, on our recent Alaskan visit, we went to the Totem Heritage Center, where we found far more than totem poles on display.  I didn't take any pictures of the poles, because the sheer size of them made it impossible for me to get good images of both the details and the scale of them with my little point-and-shoot.  However...

Beaded dance collar, shark design
Yeah, the beadwork!  Beautiful and very interesting.  The museum has both older and contemporary pieces in the collection and they invite picture taking.  There are some unfortunate lights overhead that reflect in some of my shots, but they did prevent me from needing to use a flash and thus annoying other guests!  Here are some of the highlights:

Headband, killer whale crest

Miniature button vest, killer whale crest





Beaded leather bag, floral design, ca 1900
Beaded felt emblem, eagle design

Beaded picture frame, bird and floral design
Next week in Part two, I'll show you a few more art forms featured by the center!


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Comments

These are wonderful, Cyndi... at least you were permitted to take photos. A lot of times that is frowned upon... Thanks for sharing!
Cyndi L said…
Yes, so true! We were *encouraged* to take photos, just not to use flash so that it wouldn't annoy others. Those bright spots in my photos are overhead lights, not a flash :-)
Robbie said…
Thanks for sharing...so intresting to see such intricate work!