jiiguu (Gun)

Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) flintlock trade gun, made in England, of the type known as a North West Gun or Common Gun. The Parker Field Company (based in London, England) made guns for the HBC between 1837 and 1883. The barrel, which would originally have been a standard 2.5, 3 or 3.5 feet long, has been shortened to 16.25 inches. The top jaw and top jaw screw are missing. Otherwise, the gun appears to be in its original condition.

The 'Place Made' information refers to where the Haida carving occurred; the rifle itself was made in England. The firing mechanism is dated 1861, but it was c. 1870 that the unnamed Haida artist carved the animal imagery in relief on the stock and barrel. In 2004, scholar Bill Holm noted that only two such decorated weapons from the 19th century were known to exist today; the other is an English blunderbuss, c. 1803, with Tlingit or Haida carving, in the collection of the Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York (object no. T0210).

Carved in relief on the stock and barrel are components of animal imagery: discernable are a bear-like head, claws, and fins on the stock, and bird-like imagery on the barrel.

Deep red-brown wood and metal gun that has a crest animal motif on the stock and barrel. Alongside the mechanism, there is a bronze inlaid dragon. The muzzle has been shortened. Octagonal metal barrel that becomes cylindrical at the front end, which is split into two equal sections near the middle by a double horizontal grooved band and along the bottom with carved semi-cylindrical wood. Carved semi-cylindrical wood has a bird with ovoid in ovoid eyes, inverted split u ears, a split u beak, ovoid in wings at the sides with u form tips, three digit claws, and a three feathered u form tail. The wood grip is carved with creatures on top of one another. The top creature has ovals in tapering oval eyes, inverted split u ears, curling nostrils, an open mouth showing teeth, a limb appendage at either side starting with a split u within a u form, an ovoid in an ovoid, and a split u at the tip, and inward curving three digit paws. The bottom creature has oval inside oval eyes, a thin horizontal nose, and a thin wide grin. At either side below the bottom creature, there is a split u within a u form, an ovoid, and a double u form at the bottom. At either side, along both creatures, there is an ovoid in an ovoid with a pair of u forms next to it, an ovoid in an ovoid with an s shape next to it, a three panel dorsal fin-like feature, a pair of split u's within larger u forms within a larger u form, and a three digit claw. Firing mechanism is engraved "Parker, Field and Co. 1861."