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garters
garters
garters
This pair of garters or arm bands are quilled in red and white, with beaded tassels on the ends. They are a combination of porcupine and bird quills, with GRASAC researchers believing that the quills running lengthwise are split bird quills, woven through what are believed to be porcupine quills. The stitching is done with sinew, and although the interior material is not visible, it may be birch bark or rawhide. The tassels are strung on hide, which seems to extend from underneath the quills (e.g. the tassels are not simply sewn on at the end), and the thongs themselves still retain some quill wrapping. The beads on the tassels are elaborate: they date from the early 18th century, and the size and colours are not common for the Great Lakes. The cultural origins for these garters are unclear.
These garters currently reside at the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin, Germany.
"Slave"?
The Museum documentation suggests "Slave" from the Northwest Territories, however Laura Peers is not convinced by that designation.
Museum documentation and GRASAC researcher notes
Read More About This Relative
porcupine quill, bird quill, wool (stroud?), leather, glass beads, sinew, possibly birchbark or rawhide
Sinew stitching visible with a magnifying glass. Laura Peers and Alan Corbiere considered what was inside the quills. A similar pair of garters at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, has birch bark inside. However, both Alan and Laura agreed that these garters felt more supple than they would expect if the interior was birch bark. Alan Corbiere wondered if it might be rawhide inside based on examination of the ends of the garters.
Red and white quills in alternating segments, with a single line running lengthwise in the opposite colour within each segment. Beads alternate darker (blue-green) and white, and red and white.
Maureen Matthews observed that the beads are odd colours and shapes for Great Lakes materials from this time period. The size of beads on the garters that are the same size as pony beads are striped. Laura Peers noted the striped beads are Venetian. Maureen Matthews observed that the blue-green beads are found on other items in the Berlin museum (two bags). Maureen Matthews had not seen the long red beads on other relatives, though Laura Peers noted she has seen them on early 18th century items.
Laura Peers compared these garters to ones at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK. Those garters came, possibly, from James Bay and feature hand-cut copper beads. Laura noted it would be difficult for Slave items from the Northwest Territories to make it to Germany in the time range of these garters, though she did note a few collections of items that came out of the Northwest Territories via the NorthWest Company around 1790-1820.
The Museum records suggest these are knee bands, but GRASAC researchers refer to them as arm bands or garters.
Measurements are approximate, based on scale in photographs and museum documentation.
Alan Corbiere found these garters familiar to a set of leg decorations (not garters) at the National Museum of the American Indian, and he was also reminded of feathers with quill-wrapped birch bark affixed to them
Laura Peers wondered if there was an opportunity to compare with early Northwest Territory collections in Europe - they might possibly be in the National Museum of Scotland.
Museum documentation, GRASAC researcher assessment of beads and comparison with items in other collections.
Provenance
The catalogue card indicates the museum purchased the garters in 1969 from Arthur Speyer, living in Niederwalluf, Germany.
Museum documentation
The catalogue card suggests these garters are in the catalogue published by Helga Benndorf and Arthur Speyer in 1968, "Indianer Nordamerikas: 1760-1860" and listed as Catalogue No. 15.
Museum catalogue card
About This GRASAC Record
This record was created by Cara Krmpotich on March 13, 2024 drawing upon photographs and notes produced during a GRASAC visit to the Museum in May 2019. The GRASAC team included Cara Krmpotich, Alan Corbiere, Laura Peers, Maureen Matthews with Hannah Turner and Charles Feaver on photography. Curator Monika Zessnick supported the team during the visit.