box, birchbark

box, birchbark

box, birchbark

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Introduction

A round lidded birchbark box which combines Severn Oji-Cree and Anishinaabe/Ojibwe traditions for making birchbark containers. The base resembles Severn Oji-Cree bark baskets while the lidded form and quill embroidery are typical of Central Great Lakes Anishinaabe work. The use of aniline dyes and the motifs date it to about 1860-1900. Donated to the Wisbech Museum in 1903 by Ellen Newsham. Transferred from the Wisbech Museum to the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 1949.

Nation of Maker: Ojibwe Anishinaabe Cree
Nation of Origin

Based on style: the box combines Severn Oji-Cree of birchbark basket with Anishinaabe uses of lids and quilled floral motifs.

Date Made or Date Range: 1860 to 1900
Summary of Source(s) for this Relative

Museum documentation and the GRASAC research team

Materials

birchbark; porcupine quills, natural and dyed purple, magenta, green, red, and yellow (probably with aniline dyes); split spruce root; sapling.

Techniques or Format

The base is made from a single piece of bark, its sides been cut in six places, folded up and sewn with overcast stitches with split root. The inside of each seam is reinforced with a strip of root inserted under the stitches. This is reinforced by an exterior strip of root tacked down at intervals. The rim of the base is formed by a quill and root wrapped cylindrical sapling lid. A narrow band of bark has been sewn to the inside top edge and projects upward to hold the lid. The lid is a circular piece of birchbark fitted to bark ring. The edges of the top are cut into a sawtooth contour bent down over the sides. A piece of root is tacked to the outside to hold the top and side together. The quills are dyed purple, magenta, green, red, and yellow with, apparently, aniline dyes. Traces of the scored circle are visible on the inside of the base. A small hole in centre of the lid indicates use of a compass.

Motifs and Patterns

The central top motif is a sun with a circle formed by negative space and a flower in the centre. This motif is bordered by a ring of domes. The sides display triple buds and small circles alternating in purple and red-orange.

Additional Context

Sun imagery has important cosmological and ritual significance in the subarctic and Great Lakes.

Other Notes

Trudy Nicks notes that she has seen contemporary birchbark artists briefly heat the bark while shaping and folding to make it more pliable.

Dimensions: 0 × 0 × 13 cm
Condition: Very good. There is some unravelling of quill wrapping caused by insects.
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

The use of aniline dyes puts it after about 1860 and the floral patterns are typical of the nineteenth-century.

Current Location: Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, UK
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 1949.213
Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1949
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: Wisbech Museum
Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: before 1903
Collection Narratives and Histories

Donated to the Wisbech Museum in 1903 by Ellen Newsham. Acquired from the Wisbech Museum by the Cambridge University's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 1949.

GKS Reference Number: 26235
How to Cite this Item

Unknown Anishinaabe/Cree/Ojibwe artist, box, birchbark. Currently in the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1949.213. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip May 2009; GRASAC item id 26235.

Record Creation Context

This record was created as part of a GRASAC research trip to Cambridge University's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, May 4-9 2009.

Record Creation Notes/Observations

Researchers present: Trudy Nicks, Stacey Loyer, Ruth Phillips, and Rachel Hand.

Approximate Place of Origin

44.2, -84.4

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