Coppers
 Resembling shields in outline, coppers were often
decorated with the clans insignia. A copper was the most valuable
single object that a chief possessed and an important sign of wealth.
A number of studies have been undertaken to determine the origin
of the concept and the form of the copper, but their results have
so far been inconclusive.
Many coppers are in rough, patched condition as a result of having
been used in quarrels between chiefs. A man whose honour had been
assailed would publicly have a piece cut from a valuable copper
and give that piece to the offender. That person was then required
to cut off or “break” a copper in return. If the enemy
could not afford to break a larger copper he was disgraced.
Broken pieces could be bought up and joined into a new copper or
used to replace pieces missing from a “broken” one. As
long as the T-shaped central ridge remained, the copper could be
renewed. A copper which had been broken and rejoined had a certain
prestige value that was quite independent of its monetary value.
Each copper had its own name such as “Cause of Fear” or
“Means of Strife”; some coppers became quite famous and
reached values as high as 16,000 blankets.
Coppers were always prominently displayed by chiefs at feasts and
had a value that increased with age and the number of feasts at
which they had been displayed. The Gitxsan used pieces of
copper as cash, and in the feast hall payment was often a piece
of copper. Even today the counting of the cash or “hawal”
collected, is called “breaking the copper”.
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