amhalaayt (Soul Catcher)

Oral traditions among the Tsimshian and Gitxsan indicate that soul catchers of this type were conventionally made from the femur, or shin bone, of a grizzly bear. The soul catcher features complex imagery, including the face and torso of a small human figure, with hands raised, engraved at the centre. The beings depicted on either end appear to have fin-like extensions above their snouts, and two clawed feet are represented on the back. The holes suggest this piece may have been attached to a cord and worn around the neck.

This soul catcher circulated extensively through American and British private collections and public displays; it is said to have been collected in southeast Alaska by Rev. Robert A. Doolan, an Anglican missionary invited by Nisga’a chiefs to work among them in the 1860s. It was also in the George Emmons collection, the Harry Beasley collection, the Raymond Wielgus collection (1968), and then the Allen Wardwell collection, NY. Published in "Tangible Visions" (Wardwell, 1996, p 206).

Soul catcher made of a tubular piece of grizzly bear shin bone, flared at each open end. The ends are split partway to look like open animal mouths. Eyes are carved above each mouth with incised designs to indicate nostrils. A human-like face and torso, with hands raised to his chin, is carved at top centre, with two small holes drilled at either side of face.