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shoulder bag of Chief Shingwauk
shoulder bag of Chief Shingwauk
shoulder bag of Chief Shingwauk
Anishinaabe cloth shoulder bag with front panel of finger woven yarn and interwoven beads, beadwork appliqué band, and velvet band. Long ends of yarn and interwoven beads form the bottom fringe. Beaded motifs include: diamonds, zig-zag lines and floral quatrefoils. Attributed to Chief Shingwauk of Garden River. Dr. Oronhyatekha Ethnology collection.
Shingwauk was Anishinaabe
GRASAC generated by AN
Read More About This Relative
Red, blue, olive green (drab) woolen yarn; size 10 white seed beads; black velveteen cut on the bias, inexpensive black woolen fabric with cotton warp threads, flap lined brown woolen cloth, bag lined with twill woven tan and olive fustian; red woolen tape; size 12 seed beads in grey, dusty rose, light blue, translucent rose with white colour lining
Finger woven front with interwoven beads. Back panel is one piece of cloth, front panel is made up of three separate elements: the woven bottom, the beaded band, and the velvet band, all lined with a continuous piece of fabric and bound at the edge by cotton tape. The top 'flap,' is in two pieces and the back is a separate pieces, long yarn fringe composed of the ends of the twined wool body, with interwoven with white beads, one beaded loop at the end of one of these elements. Strap is made of a piece of red tape
Chained diamonds bordered by zig-zag lines on the woven panel, three four-petalled flowers, branches of leaves, zig-zag line on the beaded panel
The upper brown woolen undecorated fabric, if allowed to fold down over the front of the bag would hide the floral beadwork. This is puzzling as it wouldn't stay up but normally wearer would want the beadwork to be seen. Lewis asks if the flap was added later. Cory: the finger woven part could be earlier than the rest of the bag, but clearly the top flap and the rest of the bag were put together at one time because the tape trim is continuous
Provenance
F. Barlow Cumberland, Catalogue and Notes of the Oronhyatekha Historical Collection, (Toronto: Independent Order of Foresters, 1904), p 32, Item 143. "Medicine Bag of Chief Shingwauk. This bag and also the beaded garters, No. 149, of the Chief are excellent examples of early beads interwoven by the product of a small hand loom, the beads being woven in the pattern as the work proceeded."
About This GRASAC Record
Unknown artist, shoulder bag of Chief Shingwauk. Currently in the Royal Ontario Museum, 911.3.75. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip December 2008; GRASAC item id 1039.
GRASAC team research trip to the Royal Ontario Museum, Dec 15-19 2008, funded by SSHRC Aboriginal Research Grant. Participants: Heidi Bohaker, Alan Corbiere, Lewis Debassige, Anne De Stecher, Darlene Johnston, Stacey Loyer, Trudy Nicks, Ruth Phillips
Dec 17: Ethnology team- Cory Willmott, Alan Corbiere, Stacey Loyer, Ruth Phillips assisted by Tracey Forester