While metal adornments have a long history on the Northwest Coast, the 1858 Fraser Canyon gold rush brought thousands of immigrants – and their silver dollars – west. These coins were hammered into bands and engraved with decorative designs. While moieties were adopted as designs, Euro-American imagery quickly became popular, reflecting a savvy, if complicated, response to settler demand. Among the most enduring Western motifs utilized was American Eagle or The Great Seal of the United States, which is pictured here, wings outstretched, arrows in one claw, olive branch in the other.

First Arts with Christopher W. Smith

References: For an overview and examples of early silver jewellery, Nancy Harris, "Reflections on Northwest Coast Silver," reproduced in The Box of Daylight: Northwest Coast Indian Art, (Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum/University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1983), pp. 132-6. Harris discusses early examples of metal work on the Northwest Coast and the stylistic differences as the craft moved down the coast. For a discussion of Euro-American designs in Northwest Coast Silver Bracelets, see Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse, Reflected Images: The Use of Euro-American Designs on Northwest Coast Silver Bracelets, M.A. Thesis Dissertation, University of Washington, 1998. For examples of other bracelets with this motif, see Figs. 14, 17, 19, 20, 26-30, 31-34, 37, 38, 70-73, 88.