Originally Posted by
bearisgray
A great piece of history and art.
Now - educate me - what are the two things in the middle - I get the fish/worship/boats/clothing - but I have no idea what they are - the lower one looks like a shoulder pad or shield to me - and I'm about 99% sure that is NOT what it is!
A lot of people didn't recognize them. The top brown one represents a cedar bark hat. The shape is very common to the tribe. I saw several of them worn at the dedication ceremony.
Concurrently, the other one is a Viking helmet. I was told by a local who runs a Nordic Gift Shop in Poulsbo - they DID NOT HAVE HORNS as commonly depicted. She showed me several historical books that showed the viking rulers wore helmets without the horns.
I used raffia for the cedar bark hat and wove it into the shape. I used silk dupioni for the viking helmet and decorative stitching, then stuffed it a bit to give it some shape.