mkak, box, birchbark and moosehair embroidery

mkak, box, birchbark and moosehair embroidery

mkak, box, birchbark and moosehair embroidery

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Introduction

This relative is a Huron-Wendat miniature oval wiigwaas (birchbark) mkak (box) with a lid, embroidered with moosehair. The associated label indicates it was bought at Niagara Falls. It was probably made during the mid-nineteenth century. In 1942, Misses Atkinson and Mrs. Thomas B. Ellis donated it to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, where it currently resides.

Name of Maker(s): Maker unrecorded
Nation of Maker: Huron-Wendat
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular nation(s)

The stylistic features are similar to mkakoon created by the Huron-Wendat.

Place of Origin: Niagara Falls, NY
Date Made or Date Range: 1840s to 1860s
Summary of Source(s) for this Relative

Museum documentation and the GRASAC research team.

Materials

birch bark; moosehair, natural and dyed green, pinkish/red, yellow, and orange; black thread.

Techniques or Format

It is made of birch bark and bundled moosehair edging.

Motifs and Patterns

The box is decorated with moosehair embroidery in floral, leaf and berry motifs.

Additional Context

The motifs on top could represent a strawberry fruit and flower.

Dimensions: 5 × 3.6 × 2.8 cm
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

This style of embroidery was popular in the mid-nineteenth century.

Current Location: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 42-18-2A (box); 42-18-2B (box lid); 49A-B (other numbers)
Link to Institution's Collections Database: https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/563324
Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1942
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: Gift of the Misses Atkinson and Mrs. Thomas B. Ellis, 1942
Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: Before 1942
GKS Reference Number: 26398
How to Cite this Item

Maker, Name unrecorded. Mkak, box, birchbark and moosehair embroidery. GRASAC ID 26398. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 42-18-2A & 42-18-2B.

Record Creation Context

GRASAC research visit by David Penney, Ruth Phillips, Stacey Loyer, William Wierzbowski, December 3, 2009.
This record was augmented by Joy Kruse on January 16, 2025.

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