mokuk; birchbark container

mokuk; birchbark container

mokuk; birchbark container

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Introduction

Mokuk was made of birchbark filled with maple sugar, with its rim is wrapped with spruce root dyed dark. On the top, there is black thread or twine. On the sides, there are triangle motifs. This item was collected by Johann Georg Schwarz in the 1820s, it is currently housed at the Weltmuseum Wien, Austria.

Name of Maker(s): Unknown Indigenous artist
Date Made or Date Range: Before 1822
Materials

Birch bark; spruce root dyed dark; black thread/twine.

Techniques or Format

Rim wrapped with spruce root; sewn shut with black thread motifs either scraped or painted; folded birch bark; spruce root stitching on side.

Motifs and Patterns

Vertical bands edged with triangles on the right; end bands have triangles on the left.

Dimensions: 6.5 × 3 × 4 cm
Condition: Very good.
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

Johann Georg Schwarz collected this item, possibly when he traveled to Detroit and through Upper Canada in the winter of 1820-1821.

Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 011999
Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: 1820s
Previous Collectors: Johann Georg Schwarz
Collection Narratives and Histories

Johann Georg Schwarz traveled to Detroit and through Upper Canada in the winter of 1820-1821.

GKS Reference Number: 59004
How to Cite this Item

Unknown Indigenous artist, mokuk. Currently in the Weltmuseum Wien, Vienna, Austria, 011999. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip January 2016; GRASAC item id 59004.

Record Creation Context

In January of 2016, a small team of GRASAC researchers visited the collection to study and photograph it: Ruth Phillips, Lisa Truong, Naomi Recollet (Anishinaabe (Odawa/Ojibwe), Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory) and Wahsontiio Cross (Mohawk, Kahnawake). This GKS record was created in November of 2021 by GRASAC RA Aidan Mitchell-Boudreau.

Approximate Place of Origin

43.0612, -78.4489