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A Copper Shield, also known as a Copper, is a symbol of wealth for the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast taken from a sheet of copper and beaten into a shield shape. Copper Shields are a sign of great wealth and status, and are used in Potlach ceremonies. It was also used to settle disagreements and bring dishonour on someone by breaking the shield on an enemy, referring to cutting a piece of the shield off in the name of dishonour. An individual Copper Shield’s value increased each time it was used in ceremony or traded, usually from Chief to Chief, in a Copper Shield selling ritual. Traditionally, the value of a Copper Shield is measured in the number of blankets it is traded for, being significantly valued for more than the cost of the metal itself. A Copper Shield named Making the House Empty of Blankets being was valued at 5000 blankets and 7500 blankets for other one called All Other Coppers are ashamed to look at it.

The standard shape for a Copper Shield is three pieces of copper hammered together, so the seams are “T” shaped. The actual “T”-shaped part is referred to as the backbone of the shield. The face of the Shield is the top and biggest piece, which is often painted or engraved. Coppers were the ultimate sign of wealth and status for a Chief, linked to the supernatural with legends, growing in value and status with each time it was traded or broken.

Ceremonial use, and social aspects
Copper Shields are some of the most sacred items to use in a ceremony, and are often used during potlatch ceremonies, and other gatherings, the more they are used and traded, the more they are valued. Franz Boas describes in his work that was published in 1897 A.D., the ritual of trading for a Copper Shield. He explained that in the potlach community wealth is gained to distribute to others in the community which increases a person social status. A trade or gift is better explained as a loan that cannot be turned down, and that must be paid back with 100% interest. If a trade was not paid back with 100% interest, the person would lose social status. The ritual of buying a Copper Shield starts with the buyer offering a small number of blankets than it is worth based on the Copper Shields’s past trades. This offer is accepted by the seller even though it is less than what the status of the Copper Shield is worth. This first low offer is followed by the seller’s community demanding a better price of the Copper Shield. A price that acceptable for the Shield is then agreed upon, and ceremony practices are to follow. If a Copper Shield was offered to sell to a Chief, and they turned down buying it, the person would lose status in the community as it appeared like they could not afford the price. This inability to buy the Cooper Shield would bring dishonour to the person.

Another way to bring dishonour using a Copper Shield was by breaking a Copper Shield on an enemy, this was done by cutting off a section of the Copper Shield while leaving the “T” shape backbone intact. Cutting a Copper Shield was a way to settle a disagreement, breaking it was a sign the disagreement was dealt with. Chief Beau Dick, who was a famous Indigenous mask carver and activist from the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nation of Vancouver Island, practiced this tradition of cutting a Copper Shield to bring shame to the British Columbia government. The ceremony took place on February 10th, 2013 in Victoria, British Columbia. Beau Dick, along with Idle No More activists engaged in the cutting of the Copper Shield to bring dishonour because of alleged treaty abuses. According to the Namgis Chief Bill Cranmer, a Copper Shield cutting ceremony was not done for decades before February 10th, 2013, and that practice stopped in the 1950s.

After contact
With new trading outposts, sheets of copper metal being easy to obtain, and more European goods coming into the Northwest Coast area, there was an increase in the number of Copper Shields being created. This increase continued until the 1885 potlatch ban, this was a prohibition of all ceremonies of Indigenous People in Canada.

Materials
Copper (the metal) has been found in pre-contact archeological sites, believed to be cold hammered into shape before contact and not through Tempering (metallurgy). Copper was also known to be used to make knives, earring, and necklaces. In several Indigenous nations like the Haida and the Kwakwakw'wakwa, the copper metal was believed to have supernatural aspects in it. The metal could be pulled from rivers in small nuggets that would be cold-hammered into useable larger pieces. The oldest confirmed archeological dates of copper in Alaska was a site dated at 1000 AD, the local Indigenous people have legends for the origins of metal to their lands. Most of the copper found in North America that was used to make the Shields is believed to come from Alaska. The metal was also found at a village site on the island of Haida Gwaii in 1150 CE. After contact, Copper Shields were made from sheets of copper metal obtained from European traders. Today, Copper Shields designs can be made for jewelry they even be made from different kinds of metals but keep their name of Copper Shield.