stirring paddle

stirring paddle

stirring paddle

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Introduction

This artifact was owned by John Echo, Six Nations Reserve, Brant County, Ontario, For use at the mid-winter festival during the mid-winter ceremony.

Date Made or Date Range: 1900s to 1915
Materials

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Other Notes

Paddle, mid-winter ceremony. Made of wood, rectangular shape blade with squared end 32 cm long, curving down for 13 cm from 7 cm to 2.6 cm in width on shaft, shaft rectangular in shape with cut off edges grip end square cut. Decorated by penciled designs on both sides. One side, with clan's animal, image of a blue wolf, underlined with a blue line, words wolfe tribe in, black, four diagonal blue lines. Other side, blue zigzag line, red ochre colour painted blotches.;;

Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

1900/01/01, 1915/07/01;;

Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: III-I-1056 b
Collection Narratives and Histories

1915/07/01 - 1915/09/30, Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, Canada, (DOCUMENTATION) (Waugh)"Two ashes paddles used at midwinter festival in house to house visitation. John Echo, On. Have the user's clan animal on them. These were used by John Echo and a companion at the annual ceremony."; (CULTURE REMARKS) Attribution by provenance; (COMMENTS) The midwinter festival of the Iroquois was also known as the Indian New Year. A council of head men were called at the time of the moon of midwinter and officers called Ondeya, picked from the two brotherhoods of clans, were elected to officiate at the midwinter ceremony. The first day of ceremony was spent by formal messages being given by pairs of Ondeya after a layout route of the houses was decided. The pair of Ondeya wearing buffalo skins and heads, made three visits to the same houses at 9 am, noon and with one at 3 pm. This third message was given by one Ondeya while the other Ondeya poked up the ashes with a paddle and sang a song. The morning of the second day, the houses were visited by officers called Hadeiyayo.Later officers called Hanasishe, two men and two women, went in couples and conducted a thank or praise service for the blessings received by that house for the past year. When this ceremony was over the officers threw up a paddle (Parker, 81-82).

GKS Reference Number: 24930
Approximate Place of Origin

43.0703, -80.1184