mkak, box, birchbark
mkak, box, birchbark
mkak, box, birchbark

This round Anishinaabe mkak (box) is made from wiigwaas (birchbark) and decorated with kaawyikewin (quillwork) in floral and star patterns. In 1942, Anna Blakiston Day, wife of Frank Miles Day, gifted the mkak to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, where it currently resides.
Catalogue card lists the mkak as being Ojibwe.
The information in this record is based on museum documentation.
Read More About This Relative
birchbark; beige thread; split root; porcupine quills, natural.
Round mkak
The kaawyikewin forms a five-pointed star motif on the top of the lid and leaves on the sides of the mkak.
The images on the UPenn database are switched for 42-29-45A-B and 42-29-46A-B. For correct images of this mkak, see the images of the oval box on the record for 42-29-45A-B.
Record indicates it was collected around 1910.
Provenance
In 1942, Anna Blakiston Day, wife of Frank Miles Day, gifted the mkak to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, where it currently resides.
About This GRASAC Record
Maker, Name unrecorded. Mkak, box, birchbark. GRASAC ID 26634. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 42-29-46A & 42-29-46B.
This information was gathered during a research visit to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, May 7, 2010. The researchers present were Adriana Greci-Green, David Penny, Stacey Loyer, and Coralie Boeykens.
This record was augmented by Joy Kruse on January 26, 2025.