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mkak, container, birchbark
mkak, container, birchbark
mkak, container, birchbark
This relative is a birchbark mkak (container) decorated with kaawyikewin (porcupine quillwork) in geometric and floral designs. It was made by Ojibwe-Euro-American writer Bamewawagezhikaquay (Jane Johnston Schoolcraft) or her daughter, Jane Susan Ann Schoolcraft in 1836-1837. According to the accompanying documentation, Schoolcraft's daughter filled a pair of mkak with maple sugar and presented it to Mrs. General Patterson when she was brought to Philadelphia to enter boarding school in 1839. Through an exchange with the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1941, it was given to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology where it currently resides.
Bamewawagezhikaquay, also known as Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Her mother, Ozhaguscodaywayquay, was the daughter of Ojibwe leader, Waubojeeg. Her father John Johnston was a Irish fur trader. This mkak was made by either Bamewawagezhikaquay or her daughter Jane.
The information in this record is based on the catalogue card and the documentation for its partner mkak (GKS 25390).
Read More About This Relative
birchbark; split root; porcupine quills natural and dyed blue, yellow, black, red/orange; wallpaper?; gold paper trim; unsplit root (cedar?); bird quill?
A hexagonal bowl, made from a single piece of birchbark, cut so that the sides are folded and sewn together. The seams are sealed with split root strips and lashing. The rim is edged with a whole root around, wrapped with split root, through which white bird quills (?) have been woven over and under, creating a decorative checkered effect. Inside the bowl, the rim is lined with gold paper trim with a zig-zag edge. The interior of the bowl is covered with six cut panels of paper. A brown floral-embossed strip has been added on top edge of the panels, going all the way around and covering the paper and gold trim. The interior bottom is framed with six cut strips of a different type of paper trim, decorated with a green and white floral and dot pattern.
The quillwork is done in floral and maple leaf, heart, geometric motifs, some with quadrilateral bi-symmetrical. (See Phillips, Trading Identities (p.169)).
There is an inscription written in pen on the bottom of the mkak. It is largely faded, but the beginning reads, "Presented to Mrs. Genl. (general) Patterson by Mrs. J.J. Schoolcraft grand daughter of..."
The paper and trim on the inside of the bowl may be wallpaper.
It seems that the paper panels were glued down by being painted with a brush, because there seems to be brush marks on it.
Adriana Greci-Green notes that the basket was likely made by "J.J." (Jane Johnston) Schoocraft, not "I.I. Istiantcraft" as the catalogue card says. Green says it does not say "Istiancraft" -- it says "Schoolcraft" and has been mis-read.
Inscription on the bottom was originally transcribed as saying, "Presented to Mrs. Paul Patterson..." However, based on the label associated with the other mkak in the pair, it is more likely "Presented to Mrs. Genl. (general) Patterson..." (Joy Kruse 11/22/2024)
The second in the pair presented to Mrs. Patterson is GKS 25390.
The museum documentation suggests the mkak was made around 1836-1837 before Schoolcraft's daughter went to boarding school in 1839.
Provenance
The other mkak presented to Mrs. Patterson (GKS 25390) was donated to the Penn Museum by Miss Ernestine A. Goodman, great-granddaughter of the Pattersons. However, it is unclear how this mkak got from the Pattersons to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Holmes, Anne. Nov. 8, 2021. "She Could Look Into the Heavens": Ojibwe Poet Jane Johnston Schoolcraft." Library of Congress Blogs.
Phillips, Ruth Bliss. Trading Identities: The Souvenir in Native North American Art from the Northeast, 1700-1900. University of Washington Press, 1998.
About This GRASAC Record
Bamewawagezhikaquay (Jane Johnston Schoolcraft) or Jane Susan Ann Schoolcraft, 1836-1837. Mkak, container, birchbark. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 41-24-19. GRASAC ID 26936.
This information was gathered during a visit to University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, May 6, 2010. The researchers present were: Adriana Greci-Green, Stacey Loyer, Coralie Boeykens.
This record was augmented by Joy Kruse on November 22, 2024.
45.851317546768, -84.615072769621
Bamewawagezhikaquay and her husband Henry Rowe Schoolcraft lived on Mackinac Island from 1833 to 1841 as part of Henry's appointment as a U.S. Indian Agent. While residing there, they lived at the Mackinac Indian Agency which has since been demolished. The pin is placed around where the building stood, right next to the Indian Dormitory which Henry established, which is now the Mackinac Art Museum. If the mkak was made in 1836-1837, the family would have been residing here at the time.