THE MUSEUM. 
9 
For The Museum. 
COPPER MONEY OF THE HAIDA INDIANS. 
BY JAMES DEANS. 
Among various tribes of Indians on the coast of 
British Columbia and Southern Alaska, particularly 
the Haida Indians of Queen Charlotte’s Islands, a 
copper-plate currency is used. These plates vary 
little in shape, but range in size from one and one- 
half inches to three feet in length. They are made 
of pure native copper, which is found on Copper 
River, near the junction of Alaska and British Co¬ 
lumbia. A piece of the virgin metal is first heated 
and then hammered out, between two stones, until 
it is reduced to a plate of the required thinness, 
when it is cut into the conventional hatchet-head 
form. The majority of these pieces are ornamented 
with a T-shaped groove, which is formed in this 
wise : Some hard material (probably copper) made 
in the form of a T, is laid on a smooth stone. The 
sheet of copper is then heated, until soft enough to 
bend, and being laid over this T, is hammered until 
it takes the form of the T, being raised on one side 
and grooved on the other. Many of these coppers 
are painted or engraved with symbolical or totemic 
devices,as in the central one represented in the en¬ 
graving. The third figure gives the outline of a 
specimen of about two feet in length, having raised 
ornamentation on the upper portion, made to repre¬ 
sent an Indian basket. The first figure shows a 
plain specimen, five inches long, which has been 
forwarded for examination. The value varies ac¬ 
cording to the size, one of two feet in length repre¬ 
senting about $500. Sixteen years ago, one of these 
pieces was worth fifty native three-cornered blankets. 
* Of late years these Indians have purchased rolled 
sheet copper in Victoria, B. C., which they cut 
without difficulty into pieces to suit themselves, but 
the value of such pieces is not more than half of 
those which have been beaten into shape in the an¬ 
cient manner. Occasionally they resort to a species 
of counterfeiting by purchasing the rolled copper 
and beating it on rough stones and then painting it 
to resemble the ancient money. 
The wealth of a Haida Indian is estimated by the 
number of coppers he possesses. One old chief, a 
few years ago, owned twertfy-five or thirty of the old 
Copper River beaten ones, which he valued at 
several thousand dollars. When a wealthy Indian 
dies, it is customary to carve the number of coppers 
he accumulated during life on his mortuary column, 
and, in some instances, the pieces themselves are 
nailed to the grave-posts. 
The Rev. and Mrs. R. W. Summers, of San Luis 
Obispo, recently discovered earthenware vessels in 
some of the ancient graves of the California coast. 
The fragments sent East for examination are of a 
rude character of ware, almost black in color, and 
entirely free from ornamentation. This is claimed 
to be the first pottery found in any quantity in these 
graves. 
Another “ inscribed ” stone, somewhat resembling, 
in size and general appearance, the “Cincinnati tab¬ 
let” has been found in Butler county, Ohio. The 
authenticity of the specimen is not doubted, but the 
characters (one of which, covering about one-quarter 
of the stone, bears some resemblance to a man’s 
head) are not believed to possess any particular sig¬ 
nificance. Dr. E. H. Davis, one of the original 
explorers of the mounds, expressed to Dr. D. G. 
Brinton, some years ago, his belief that such “ tab¬ 
lets” were merely stamps for ornamenting fabrics or 
portions of the human body. 
In southeastern Utah, three large spherical pots or 
jars have been discovered, buried under a rock- 
shelter or retreat, in the neighborhood of ancient 
Pueblo ruins. Their mouths were covered with a 
large, flat stone. In one was found about 200 yards 
of rope, made, apparently, from the tough fibres or 
bark of the Indian hemp, and closely covered with a 
wrapping of feathers of dark gray color. In another 
was found about 100 yards of rabbit netting, made 
