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Belt
Belt
Belt
This relative, a belt of quill wrapped splints, was collected by British Army officer Jasper Grant between 1805 and 1809. The design of the belt includes four thunderbirds using bark, sinew, and both coloured (red, blue, black, and yellow) and natural gaaway (porcupine quills). Printed cotton backing and birchbark backing are also used, including birchbark splints, and two ply vegetable fibre which has been used for quill wrapping, and sinew used to sew quill wrapped splints to the backing. The origins of the belt are not certain; however, it has probable connections to the Anishinaabe.
This relative currently resides at the National Museum of Ireland.
This information was informed by the following resource: Phillips, Ruth. Patterns of Power. Kleinburg, On.: Patterns of Power, 1984.
GRASAC Research notes.
Read More About This Relative
bark, red, blue, black, yellow and natural porcupine quills, sinew, printed cotton backing, birchbark backing and birchbark splints, two ply vegetable fiber used for quill wrapping, sinew used to sew quill wrapped splints to the backing, hide
eleven bands of quill wrapped splints sewn together with sinew. backed with birchbark printed cotton, belt width pieces of hide at the ends
Thunderbirds and diagonal lines of yellow and black on either side. RP: the diagonal yellow lines may represent lightning
This information was informed by the following resource: Phillips, Ruth. Patterns of Power. Kleinburg, On.: Patterns of Power, 1984. It is also informed by the fact that Jasper Grant served as commandant of Fort George in the Niagara Peninsula and of Fort Malden at Amherstburg opposite Detroit from 1800-1809.
Provenance
Jasper Grant (1762-1812), Anglo-Irish officer who spent 9 years in Canada between 1800-1809. Served as commandant of Fort George in the Niagara Peninsula and of Fort Malden at Amherstburg opposite Detroit. It is likely that his wife, Isabella Grant, played a significant role in the collection of items given her close relationship to Madeline Askin Richardson, the daughter of a prominent fur trader and merchant with extensive ties to the surrounding Indigenous communities.
GRASAC researcher notes from a research trip to the National Museum of Ireland on July 21, 2010.
In 1984-1985 the Jasper Grant Collection was featured in a special travelling exhibition for the Ontario bicentennial, which was organized by the McMichael Canadian Collection and entitled "Patterns of Power."
Phillips, Ruth. Patterns of Power. Kleinburg, On.: McMichael Canadian Collection, 1984.
Philips, Ruth B. (1986-87). “Jasper Grant and Edward Walsh: the Gentleman-Soldier as Early Collector of Great Lakes Indian Art.” Journal of Canadian Studies 21(4): 56-71.
About This GRASAC Record
Maker, Name unrecorded. Belt. GRASAC ID: 24828. National Museum of Ireland Collection 1902.348.
This record was augmented by Dana Murray on July 15, 2024. It draws on information recorded during the GRASAC research trip to the National Museum of Ireland on July 21, 2010. Participants included Alan Corbiere, Crystal Migwans, Bhenens Corbiere, Nikolaus Stolle, and Ruth Phillips, who were assisted by Padraig Clancy.
GRASAC trip was funded by a SSHRC Aboriginal Research Grant
43.2508, -79.0616
Fort George is identified on the map as a possible origin for this relative, but this reflects only one place where the relative may have lived. It is not a known place of origin; it is only one location associated with where the collector, Jasper Grant, served in the British Army.