wood; red paint; babiche; hide tie for foot;

Both have elliptical frames made of two pieces of wood bent to create pointed toes which are quite steeply raised. There is an acute angle of bend relative to other examples of this style. The frame and areas of webbing have been thickly rubbed with ochre.

The ochre lines on the pair of snowshoes form a diamond pattern and there is an initial A on the crosspiece of the snowshoe.

Ruth Phillips observed that there is a pattern amongst the peoples in the subarctic to cover edges and joint forms with red ochre which could possibly explain the red ochre on these snowshoes. On the Northwest Coast, in shamanistic tradition, the soul or spirit of a person could escape through the joints of the body, thus the covering of the joints. However, we are not sure if there is evidence that this belief was prevalent throughout the Great Lakes area.
(Ruth Phillips, Research Video, GRASAC Glasgow Museum Resource Centre, Tape 1: December 15, 2006).

This item was one of several objects on loan to the Royal Scottish Museum from the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. It was transferred to the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre from the Royal Scottish Museum in March of 1955.

Museum documentation

Item to be cited by catalog number, collection and institution.

This record was created 9 Apr 2007 as part of a GRASAC research trip to Scotland. It was augmented by Cara Krmpotich on February 5, 2024.

On-site researchers: Cory Willmott, Heidi Bohaker, Laura Peers, Ruth Phillips, Keith Jamieson, Alan Corbiere, Alison Brown, Patricia Allen.