This pipe may depict Lituya Bay in southeastern Alaska. According to Tlingit history, the bay was guarded by a froglike sea monster and his slave, a bear, who periodically shook the surface of the water and caused great waves to drown unwary travelers. The two brass-covered ridges on this pipe are waves that have engulfed a canoe and its occupants.

Infinity of Nations: Art and History in the Collections of the National Museum of the American Indian
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