Materials

Fabric, cotton, green (army) & white, Bias tape, cotton, green (army), Ribbon, silk, pink (magenta) & white (cream), Yarn, pink fading into brown, Beads, tubular, brown (light transparent) & white (opaque), Beads, seed, clear, red (opaque bright pink, opaque medium pink, opaque rose), orange (opaque marigold), yellow (opaque greasy lemon), green (transparent dark green), blue (opaque medium).

Techniques or Format

Hand sewn, Pocket backed with brown cotton. Lined with white cotton, Inside top of pocket reinforced with stiff paper, Loom-woven beadwork, Overlay-stitched beadwork, Eight woven beaded tabs at bottom with yarn tassels, Tabs at bottom corners of cream and purple silk ribbon.

Motifs and Patterns

Ottertail, dot, diamond, hourglass, triangle, feather?, claw?.

Original and Subsequent Uses

"Bandolier bags most likely originated in the Upper Great Lakes region during the 1840s and 1850s. Fashioned exclusively from European materials and adorned with thousands of beads, bandolier bags were primarily for show, as a symbol of identity, wealth and status. Although initially functional, by the late 19th and early 20th centuries many of the bags had false pockets or none at all. Sometimes called "friendship bags", they were often created as gifts to strengthen relationships within communities or between nations. By the 1870s they had become an important element of formal dress worn mainly at ceremonies and celebrations by men, and occasionally by women. They wore them - singly or several at a time - crossed over the torso or draped around the neck. The wearing of more than one bag was generally the prerogative of a leader or a person of high honour." (McCord, 2013)

Dimensions: 52.4 × 30.3 × 0 cm

Condition: Black straight pin (in envelope) removed from the upper right-hand edge of the pocket; Straps missing; Numerous holes in green cotton; Bias tape faded; Silk ribbon is torn, and there are a few holes; Woven beadwork loose and stretched, some broken; Tube beads (some missing), some colour fading; Bead edging much broken; Contents of pocket: button, dress hook, ochre, beads, paper cut-out of a doll wearing turn-of-century dress, fragments of unidentified material.

Current Location: Manitoba Museum, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: H4-11-30

Link to Institution's Collections Database: https://manitobamuseum.ca/main/collections-research/collections-database/

Collection at Current Location: Cultural Anthropology Collection

Source for Provenance information

McCord Museum. Wearing Our Identity. Montreal: The McCord Museum, 2013. Print.

Sources to Learn More

McCord Museum. Wearing Our Identity. Montreal: The McCord Museum, 2013. Print.

GKS Reference Number: 45176

How to Cite this Item

Manitoba Museum

Record Creation Context

Content from the Manitoba Museum's catalog records. Uploaded by Orvis Starkweather as part of their summer internship.