Materials

Black woollen cloth, lining of black cotton, beige thread, beads of light blue, gold, pink, medium green, light green, yellow, medium blue, red, clear glass, brass.

Techniques or Format

Two-piece black woollen cloth sewn together, bordered by a stitched-in lining of black cotton. Inside covered by a plain unbleached cotton fabric. Beads couched with beige thread.

Motifs and Patterns

Flowers, leaves, stem, branches.

Additional Context

Femininity (based on R. Phillips' analysis in "Trading Identities"); connection between the cosmic worlds of the sky and underwater (based on R. Phillips' analysis in "Zigzag and Spiral")

Original and Subsequent Uses

This hood would have been worn during hunting expeditions and feasts (see Brasser 1974 and 1982). With the introduction of Christianity in the region, the hood could have been worn to church services (see Oberholtzer 1991).

Dimensions: 62.6 × 25.9 × 0 cm

Condition: Good, although some sections of beads are missing: a few strings of pink beads are missing from the inside of a petal on the lower right-hand side of the hood. More beads are missing on the left-hand side, including the middle of a red flower in the centre of the pattern, along with several strings from the inside of a blue petal. Water stains have damaged the lower part of the centre of the cotton fabric inside the hood.

Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

Floral beadwork was most prominent in Anishinaabe and related groups during the later half of the nineteenth century. Beaded hoods, like other ornamented clothing, were believed to please the spirit of the caribou or other hunted animal.

Current Location: Canadian Museum of History, Ottawa, Canada

Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: iii-g-1093

Link to Institution's Collections Database: www.civilization.ca

Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1977-05

Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: William Caskey, Indian Gallery

Collection Narratives and Histories

After acquiring it in May 1977 from Caskey, the National Museum of Man (now the Canadian Museum of Civilization) purchased it on August 30th of the same year.

GKS Reference Number: 1176