mkak, box, birchbark

mkak, box, birchbark

mkak, box, birchbark

top image
Images
Introduction

This Anishinaabe mkak (box) is made from birchbark and decorated with porcupine quillwork. It is likely from White Fish Point, near Sault Ste. Marie. The label on the bottom of the mkak reads: "Box made from birchbark and porcupine quills. Made by an old Indian woman...118 years of age...Sault St..." In 1963, Mrs. Robert Pemberton gifted this relative to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, where it currently resides. 

Name of Maker(s): Unrecorded
Maker role: Artist
Nation of Maker: Anishinaabe Ojibwe
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular nation(s)

The catalogue card for this relative says "Chippewa" (Ojibwe).

Place of Origin: Whitefish River First Nation
Date Made or Date Range: before 1963
Materials

birchbark; beige thread; black thread; split root; porcupine quills natural and dyed red blue

Motifs and Patterns

On the top and sides, there are small circles with overlapping quills in black, white and red, as well as stripes of quills along the sides of the lid.

Dimensions: 7.8 × 7.8 × 4.7 cm
Current Location: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 63-8-7.1 (box); 63-8-7.2 (box lid); L-260-7 (old loan number)
Link to Institution's Collections Database: https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/563586
Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1963
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: Gift of Mrs. Robert Pemberton, 1963
GKS Reference Number: 25377
How to Cite this Item

Maker, Name unrecorded. Mkak, box, birchbark. GRASAC ID 25377. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 63-8-7.1 & 63-8-7.2.

Record Creation Context

Visit to University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, May 7 2010. Researchers present: Adriana Greci-Green, David Penny, Stacey Loyer, Coralie Boeykens.
This record was augmented by Joy Kruse on August 16, 2024.

Do You Have Knowledge to Contribute? Share with Us.