Tanned, black-dyed deerskin; porcupine quills, orange, blue, black and white; metal cones; red-dyed animal hair; leather thongs; strap of faded green and yellow wool yarn.

Quill work in simple line, one-quill edging, zigzag band, two quill diamond stitches. The strap of yellow and green wool yarn is braided in 'arrow' motif and sewn to pouch with sinew.

Black-dyed pouches of a rectangular or square shape were widely used in the Great lakes in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and often bore images of the under-or upper world manitos. No other square pouch is known displaying the motifs on this pouch. They are probably stylized representations of horned serpents, the companions of the Underwater Panther. Such underworld images would accord with the wavy lines that border the pouch front.

Patterns of Power

Phillips, Ruth. Patterns of Power. Kleinburg,On.: McMichael Canadian Collection, 1984.

Patterns of Power