This spoon is carved with a figure who holds a basket in one hand and a knife in the other. This is unusual as most feast spoons are decorated with more common clan crests. It is rare to find a spoon with specific imagery like this.
There are numerous styles of spoon-like objects used ceremonially on the Northwest Coast, the most common being made of goat horn, which are either entirely black or made with a combination of black horn for the handle and a lighter horn for the spoon.
Along with feast dishes, this kind of ladle is used ceremonially on the Northwest Coast during potlatches, events where the transfer of hereditary property, such as names, stories, and crests, are publicly witnessed and validated. During potlatches, food plays a central role as the amount and variety contribute to the prestige of the host family. Although many different kinds of events are referred to by this name, at the centre of them all is feasting and the bestowal of gifts by a host family to their invited guests. Feast spoons and ladles are most commonly decorated with crest figures representing the hereditary rights of the host chief.
