hair, bison or cattle; glass beads, opaque white; cord

A finger-woven bag decorated with white bead infill. The beads were strung on a thin cord before weaving. There are two parallel lines of a zig zag pattern. The fourth zig zag line extends into diamonds and half triangles, joining with the human figures on the bag's other side. The otter tail pattern is beaded on the bag's sides. The lower edge gathers cords into braids which terminate in twisted fringes. It appears to be constructed with two pieces sewn together at the sides with strips of black fibre, also woven. There is a braided cord around the top that dangles down one side, functioning as a drawstring.

Five human figures with joined hands. Horizontal zigzag lines. The otter tail motif is found on the sides of bag.

The zig zag lines could be power lines, representing under- and upper-world power (RP). The motifs could be emblems of an alliance, but it is not necessarily a wampum bag (RP).

18th century, based on style.

In 1884, this item was transferred to the Pitt Rivers Museum from the South Kensington Museum (later named the Victoria and Albert Museum). One of the items in Pitt Rivers' founding collection, it was delivered to the Bethnal Green Museum, a branch of the South Kensington Museum, in 1878, where it was held until Pitt Rivers' found a permanent home for his collection at Oxford.

Described and illustrated in D. Bushnell, "The Various Uses of Buffalo Hair by the American Indians," American Anthropologist XI 1909: 403-5.

This record was created as part of a Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Cultures (GRASAC) research trip to the Pitt Rivers Museum and British Museum, December 8-22 2007, funded by a grant from the International Opportunities fund of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

researchers present: Heidi Bohaker (HB), Al Corbiere (AC), Stacey Loyer (SL), Janis Monture (JM), Laura Peers (LP), Ruth Phillips (RP), Anne De Stecher (AS), Cory Willmott (CW).