bkwaakdo-bgamaagan, club, ball-headed

bkwaakdo-bgamaagan, club, ball-headed

bkwaakdo-bgamaagan, club, ball-headed

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Introduction

This Anishinaabe relative is a bkwaakdo-bgamaagan or ball-headed club. There is a highly stylized contour that may represent an animal. It was purchased from a dealer in Philadelphia named Chattin by Charles H. Stephens on April 16, 1910. After his death, Stephens' collection was left to his son D. Owen Stephens, whose wife, Mrs. Owen Stephens, sold it to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 1945 where it currently resides. 

Name of Maker(s): Maker unrecorded
Nation of Maker: Anishinaabe Ojibwe
Nation of Origin

Anishinaabe attribution is based on stylistic features. The catalogue card indicates it is "Ojibwa."

Date Made or Date Range: 1850s to 1900s
Summary of Source(s) for this Relative

Information from the object catalogue card.

Materials

wood; black paint.

Techniques or Format

Carved from a piece of wood. There are hot file marks on handle, partly worn away, and black paint on bottom half of the ball.

Motifs and Patterns

The club's head resembles a stylized animal jaw.

Dimensions: 47 × 14 × 0 cm
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

Many clubs of this style were made during this period. The catalogue card indicates the Philadelphia dealer, Chattin had it by 1909.

Current Location: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 45-15-1110
Link to Institution's Collections Database: https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/62805
Collection at Current Location: Charles H. Stephens Collection
Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1945
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: Purchased from Mrs. Owen Stephens, 1945
Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: Before 1909
Collection Narratives and Histories

It was purchased for $3.00 from a dealer in Philadelphia named Chattin by Charles H. Stephens on April 16, 1910. The note on Stephens' catalogue card indicates that in 1909 it was stored in an attic at a Lapidary shop at 9th and Sansom streets in Philadelphia. After his death, Stephens' collection was left to his son D. Owen Stephens, whose wife, Mrs. Owen Stephens, sold it to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 1945 where it currently resides.

Exhibition History

Penn Museum: Native American Voices: The People-Here and Now (March 1, 2014 to Present)
Penn Museum: Dickeson Mississippi Panorama (March 2, 1948)

GKS Reference Number: 24599
How to Cite this Item

Maker, Name unrecorded. Bkwaakdo-bgamaagan, club, ball-headed. GRASAC ID 24599. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 45-15-1110.

Record Creation Context

This information was gathered during a GRASAC site research visit by Alan Corbiere, David Penney, Stacey Loyer, Ruth Phillips and William Wierzbowski (curator) on December 2, 2009.
This record was augmented by Joy Kruse on February 1, 2025.

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