Birch bark, quills (undyed (white, brown), red, black), black thread, sweetgrass

The outer body of the box is a single piece of undecorated second-growth birchbark (a trademark of Maime's work, and another element influenced by her nephew, artist Carl Beam). The decorated lid inserts inside the body with a lip overhanging slightly. The lid's sweetgrass trim extends out to form this lip, and the ring of birchbark that forms the fitted insert is sewn to its underside. The interior of the body is lined with the customary layer of birchbark, with the floor stitched on with four knotted quills, and the sides tabbed and folded at the bottom and stitched into the sweetgrass at the top.

Seven figures (one horned) in a canoe on a white background, with a small red cross in the sky, surrounded by a black and white zig-zag.

One of the figures in the canoe is a shaman (indicated by the horns), who is using a ring of thunderbird power to protect the canoe from attacks by the underwater panther. This image is one that artist Carl Beam (Maime's nephew) adapted from the petroglyphs at Lake Superior, and encouraged her to use. The small red cross is a pre-contact four-directions symbol which Carl often inserted in his work.

Appraisal sheet

Maime Migwans, box, quill. Currently at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, A1.01.033. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip; GRASAC item id 26781.

Dummy GRASAC records of collections made by Lakota Preston, April 2010, items labelled and info updated by Juanita Migwans, summer 2010.

Photos and item spreadsheet created June 2011 by Adrianna Greci-Green (visiting to research quill boxes in the OCF collection), Crystal Migwans (OCF curatorial assistant) and Emanuela Rossi (visiting researcher), using information from Sophie Corbiere, Kate Roy, and 2003 appraisal sheets by P.Krueger.

Records edited and filled out by Crystal Migwans, June 2011.