Armour Vest for female warrior, 2012

Chinese coins were found in Indigenous Tlingit communities from Alaska to Washington State by 1790, and they are referenced in this replica historical Tlingit coin armour created by Sitka-based multidisciplinary artist Kristina Cranston, who apprenticed with her husband and Tlingit master carver Tommy Joseph for seven years. The Chinese coins woven into the elk hide indicate that this type of armour was developed post-contact. Although the Tlingit people did not directly encounter Chinese explorers, Chinese material culture reached them through interactions with other seafaring nations, such as Russia, who actively participated in the Maritime fur trade. The connections between the histories explored in Karen Tam’s sculpture Coin-Suit, 2021, and Cranston’s Armour Vest for female warrior, 2012, remind us of the far-reaching impact of Chinese material production.