From Edward Curtis’ Field Notes:

“The principal chief of the Qagyuhl is depicted in a “button blanket” (which is simply a woolen blanket ornamented with hundreds of large mother-of-pearl buttons), cedar-bark neck-ring, and cedar-bark head-band. His right hand grasps a shaman’s rattle, and his left the carved staff which, as a kind of emblem of office, a man always holds when making a speech. The button designs along the edge of the blanket represent “coppers”.” – Edward Curtis

The North American Indian, Volume 10, The Kwakiutl, 1915. Portfolio plate no. 333.