Bag with four objects: carved wooden axe, small cartridge bag, yarn nimaban, knitted "tubes" (leggings?). Bag made of canvas, blue flannel, rick rack trim, hide ties, cotton thread?

Canvas bag machine stitched? with blue flannel strap. Top-stitched with red and white striped fabric, rick rack trim. Hide ties.

Toy trap bag of canvas and contents for boy, also known as walking out bag.
Adrian Tanner, an anthropologist who studied the Eeyou (Mistissini- Eastern James Bay Quebec Cree) Walking Out (ewiiwiithaawsunaanuuchc, they make him go outside) A ceremony is held soon after a child can walk, which formally marks the change from when he must always stay inside to when he may begin to spend time outside the dwelling. I have observed the ceremony during the spring and summer, both at the camp and at the summer settlement, but I have been told it may also be conducted in winter, on a very sunny day. The child is led by his parents along a path leading straight out from the doorway to where a small decorated spruce tree has been erected. The path is normally made of spruce boughs laid on the ground. A boy child carries a toy rifle (or in some cases a bow and arrow), and a girl child a toy axe. With these toys the child is made to mimic adult activities symbolic of their sex; the boy 'shoots' an animal, usually a beaver or a goose, whose carcass has been placed under the tree, and the girl 'chops' a pile of firewood, or gathers spruce boughs. The child is then made to circle the tree clockwise, and to carry or drag back what has been gathered, often in a miniature niimuutaan (decorated hunting bag). The child is led inside the tent where he makes a clockwise circuit of the dwelling, is greeted by members of the residential group, and presents the pack to the same-sex parent or grandparent. A small feast follows, using in part the material brought in by the child, who is complimented by the family members for 'providing such a magnificent meal.'(Tanner 1979:91).

Cath Oberholtzer notes "The Eeyou (Mistissini- Eastern James Bay Quebec Cree) explains the decoration of clothing and hunting equipment as not only showing respect to the prey but also ensuring that the spirit of the object "does its proper job in the hunt" (Tanner 1979:142). According to Tanner, although the Mistassini were reluctant to provide any direct symbolic meaning, they did reveal that the instructions for making the decorations on the various charms and items of hunting equipment are dreamed by the hunters, although some wives may decide the correct design" (Oberholtzer 2005:293). Cath Oberholtzer, "Material Culture of the Mistassini Cree: Local Expression or Regional Style?" Papers of the Thirty-sixth Algonquian Conference. Christoph Wolfart, editor. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba. pp. 287-321.

NMAI Catalog Card.

Item to be cited by Catalog Number, Collection and Institution.

Record created as part of practicum fall 2008.