Southern Alaska and northern British Columbia
Northwest Coast / Tlingit

Wood, pigment, human hair
Mid 1950s (collected)
Height: 14 in; Diameter: 15 in
Other – Regalia – Hat

The whale clan crest hat is an emblem of greatness and is used/worn as a crest by the leading clan of the Tlhigh-naedi moiety (one of the two kinship groups based on unilateral descent) of the Tlingit people.  This ceremonial whale hat, woven of roots of the spruce tree is vividly rendered in shades of red and black.  The carved wooden piece, fixed on the top of the crown is rendered in shades of red, black, and turquoise with streams of water, represented by locks of human hair for ornamentation, representing the fin of the sea animal. 

Clans, a group of people interrelated in the Tlingit people by paternal descent, have within their group a definite order of rank and within these rank divisions, are characterized by ownership of special crests. The animals of land and sea and birds are used as individual house-group emblems or crests.  These crests are usually represented in carvings and paintings on house pillars, batons/staffs, helmets and as seen here, ceremonial hats.

Reference:  Shotridge, Louis. “The Emblems of the Tlingit Culture.” The Museum Journal XIX, no. 4 (December, 1928): 350-376. Accessed February 26, 2022. https://www.penn.museum/sites/journal/9160/