{"id":4519,"date":"2021-05-02T03:39:26","date_gmt":"2021-05-02T03:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/?page_id=4519"},"modified":"2026-08-13T20:42:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T20:42:56","slug":"chau","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/v28\/chau\/","title":{"rendered":"Tlingit strong suits: The collaborative treatment and mounting of Tlingit armor at the American Museum of Natural History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Amanda Chau, Amy Tjiong, Judith Levinson, Samantha Alderson, Gabrielle Tieu, Tommy Joseph, Jeanne Brako, and Jack Townes<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Abstract<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2017, the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) began a multi-year renovation project to refurbish and re-curate its historic Northwest Coast Hall. Among the many critical components of the project are documentation and conservation of all objects in the display, reinterpretation of the exhibit, and engagement with&nbsp;Indigenous partners to&nbsp;guide&nbsp;themes and object choices&nbsp;presented in the Hall.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among the nearly 1000 objects comprising the new display, is a collection of Tlingit armor and numerous types of weapons dating from the 19th century. During an onsite visit and several online meetings, Tlingit artist and armor expert, Tommy Joseph, shared his extensive knowledge gained from examining Tlingit armor and weapons in&nbsp;collections&nbsp;around the world,&nbsp;aiding&nbsp;conservators in understanding the significance, use, and manufacture of this type of cultural material.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The three Tlingit \u2018suits of armor\u2019 ultimately chosen for the display in the Northwest Coast Hall are a&nbsp;moosehide&nbsp;shirt covered with Chinese coins arranged in a chevron pattern; a complex&nbsp;tunic&nbsp;style&nbsp;garment&nbsp;constructed of&nbsp;hide, wooden elements, and sinew, called slat&nbsp;armor; and a&nbsp;sleeveless&nbsp;painted hide&nbsp;garment&nbsp;made to be worn underneath slat armor.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both the coin armor and the slat armor had long been exhibited&nbsp;in the historic Hall. Investigation and consultation revealed&nbsp;incorrect&nbsp;positioning of the coin armor on&nbsp;its mount&nbsp;and&nbsp;misalignment&nbsp;of the slat armor elements during prior restoration. Tommy Joseph\u2019s involvement and guidance helped to rectify these problematic issues. Further, his participation in discussions of treatment goals and review of the broader collection enriched understanding of the relationship of these armor elements with the other&nbsp;components&nbsp;of the warrior\u2019s protective clothing. This was&nbsp;essential&nbsp;for proper construction of the mannequins to provide a respectful and accurate representation of a seldom-seen category of Northwest Coast material. Background information, conservation treatment and mannequin construction will be expanded upon in the presentation, in addition to a further description of the collaborative&nbsp;process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/08\/03-OSG2021_Chau_25-48.pdf\">Download Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/v28\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"4511\">2021 | Virtual | Volume 28<\/a><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amanda Chau, Amy Tjiong, Judith Levinson, Samantha Alderson, Gabrielle Tieu, Tommy Joseph, Jeanne Brako, and Jack Townes Abstract In 2017, the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) began a multi-year renovation project to refurbish and re-curate its historic Northwest Coast Hall. Among the many critical components of the project are documentation and conservation of all [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"parent":4511,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4519","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4519"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5015,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4519\/revisions\/5015"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}