Carved horn spoons were among the most powerful, intimate objects created by the Tlingit people of the American Northwest Coast. Carved spoons depict supernatural and ancestral beings, natural phenomena, and animal and human characters. Each intricate handle manifests inherited stories through nested crests and figures. As with totem poles, one must "read" the emblems from the bottom up to appreciate their meanings.

Feeding the Ancestors: Tlingit Carved Horn Spoons presents a selection of carved spoons made and collected in the 1800s. At the time, Tlingit elites used spoons like these to serve food at ceremonies, simultaneously sustaining themselves and the ancestral beings carved on the handles. The interpretations and stories presented derive from collaborations among scholars, tribal historians, carvers, and other students of Tlingit material culture.