Fabulous Hat!

Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.

This fellow sits proudly outside the University of Washington's Burke Museum entrance, wearing his distinctive hat. I can't explain why I love seeing basketry hats. Perhaps it's their proportions or the way they fit the wearer. Whenever I see someone wear one or see them in a carving or painting, it's just really special to me. From the Burke Museum's description of this Tlingit style carving: "Replica of Tlingit Mortuary Pole (cat. no. R-299). A chest at the top of the original mortuary pole held the remains of a Tlingit chief. On this replica pole, the figure of a high-ranking man wears a prestigious ringed basketry hat and sits on a carved bentwood chest. The original pole stood in the village of Old Wrangell (Kasitlan), near present-day Wrangell, Alaska. The noted artist Kadyisdu.áxch probably carved that mortuary pole. This replica was carved by Bill Holm, 1972 based on photos of the original pole, which no longer survives."