Tlingit dagger commission

[David]

Originally Posted by Harry Marinakis

I am really disappointed that I was unable to find a Tlingit who was willing to even respond to my inquiries about making a dagger. I guess the Tlingit dagger really is a "lost" art.

I'm not yet convinced that it is a lost art Harry, though that may be the case. A dagger in the form of the one you have had made is not just any old utility knife to a Tlingit. It is a deeply spiritual ritual object and while daggers like these often fall into the custodianship of a single person they are usually considered to be tribal regalia of a sort. This may be the reason you could not find a Tlingit willing to make one for you.
What you have is truly a fine work of art, even if not an ethnographic one. One thing i would suggest is that as the commissioner of this piece you might want to take on the responsibility to ensure (to the best of your ability) that it is always properly represented. It would be a shame to see this dagger being passed off as a true Tlingit artifact 2 or 3 generations down the line and i think there is a good chance it could pass as such if it losses its connection to its true origin.

[Harry Marinakis]

Actually I made a decision long ago to refrain from buying "antiques." I prefer to support living artists who sustain the ancient traditions.

So even if I could buy an authentic 19th Century Tlingit dagger, I wouldn't.

[ariel]

Well, to each his own.
People collect even stranger things: stamps, Lalique, oils by Rembrandt :-)

[Harry Marinakis]

Originally Posted by David

...This may be the reason you could not find a Tlingit willing to make one for you...

The Tlingit (and other NW Coast natives) sell so much of their other spiritual and religious regalia that I do not believe that to be the reason. I have commissioned other "senstitive" cultural items and no one has ever balked at fulfilling my commission orders.

[David]

Originally Posted by Harry Marinakis

The Tlingit (and other NW Coast natives) sell so much of their other spiritual and religious regalia that I do not believe that to be the reason. I have commissioned other "senstitive" cultural items and no one has ever balked at fulfilling my commission orders.

I not sure what you mean by "sensitive" cultural items. NWC natives certainly produce and sell contemporary art for tourists and collectors and with this type of culture it would be difficult not to see some of their spiritual/religious nature come through in the commercial art. However, i still think that they might balk at the idea of producing a dagger such as this one for you.
Regardless, i still don't think the reason you could not find a Tlingit craftsman to make this for you was because it is a "lost art". If you have bought contemporary Tlingit art you can no doubt see that they have retained a fine level of craftsmanship in all forms and mediums. This dagger below, for instance, is a replica of Keet Gwalaa (Killer Whale Dagger) made by Harold Jacobs (A Tlingit and Cultural Resource Specialist with Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska) with the help of master carver Steve Brown (Assistant Curator of Native American art at the Seattle Art Museum) who carved the die used to cast the hilt in 1985. While Steve is a white guy i believe there are certainly many Tlingit carvers who would also be up to this task of carving this die. Steve has studied for years with the best of them and has worked very closely with the Tlinglit community. I believe this repro was made to replace the original dagger in the Penn Museum collection after Harold succeeded in getting the museum to return it to the tribe.
http://www.penn.museum/collections/object/354042