Materials

birchbark; spruce root; wood; porcupine quills natural and dyed purple, yellow, and green.

Techniques or Format

This model canoe is made of three pieces of birchbark. The main two pieces that form the sides of the canoe are sewn together at the ends with spruce root, and the band of birchbark that forms the bottom of the canoe appears to be secured with porcupine quills. The gunwales are made of wood splint and are secured with wrapped spruce root along the trim which is also decorated with a thin strip of scalloped birchbark. The thwarts and manboards are made of wood secured with spruce root. The separate liner and decks appear to be made of thin strips of wood splint. Both sides are decorated with quillwork in floral designs.

Motifs and Patterns

There are five four-petalled flowers or quatrefoils that share a common stem with radiating leaves or thorns on both sides of the canoe.

Additional Context

Quatrefoils with thorns may be a possible adaptation of the wild rose which grew vastly throughout Anishinaabe territory; four-petalled flowers may be possible indication of the four-quadrants. (See: Frances Densmore, "Chippewa Customs", Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 86, Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1929, pp 186). According to Ritzenthaler, the manboards at the two ends of the canoe represent spiritual power (See: Robert E. Ritzenthaler, "The Building of a Chippewa Indian Birchbark Canoe." Milwaukee Public Museum Bulletin 19(2): 53-99.)

Other Notes

There has been significant fading to the quillwork dyes on the canoe. It is unclear whether all the flowers on the canoe were originally purple and some have faded to the natural colour over time, or whether some were originally intended to be purple and others in natural colour.

Dimensions: 39.5 × 12.5 × 7 cm

Condition: Fair, fading to quillwork dyes, some damage to birchbark on one end that is currently being held together with a small clip

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

Museum documentation

Current Location: Museum Volkenkunde, Leiden, Netherlands

Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 362-2

Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1883

Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: Herman ten Kate

Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: 1880s

Collection Narratives and Histories

Purchased from Herman ten Kate in 1883.

Publication History

Pieter Hovens, with contributions by Duane Anderson, Ted Brasser, Laura van Broekhoven et al. "The Ten Kate Collection 1882-1888". Leiden: ZKF Publishers, 2010.

GKS Reference Number: 24424