Birch Bark Box
date: label: Accession Date
content: 22 May 1912
name: label: Donor Name
content: Mrs. Julian James
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "Decorated with loon's [sic] hair. "Birchbark, moosehair, cotton thread. ... this is in reality a birchbark box, sewn together with cotton thread, and embroidered with dyed moosehair in a design of three Indian males in a canoe. Aniline dyes are used on the moosehair, and the construction and embroidery are a bit crude. This suggests a twentieth-century date of manufacture. STRONGLY QUERY MICMAC. The piece is part of a collection obtained from 'all over the world', by Mrs. Julian James." Ruth H. Whitehead, Nova Scotia Museum, 12/41/1978."
label: Notes
content: An alternate ID would be Huron (Wendat). Embroidered birch bark trays are commonly seen as tourist items made by Native people of the Quebec region for tourism purposes, trading, and sale to collectors. Birchbark containers embroidered with moosehair were one of the specialties of Huron/Wendat women. The Micmac/Mi'kmaq made similar ones, but theirs were decorated with porcupine quillwork in geometric motifs. Sources: Bruchac, Margaret, and Liliana Gurry. “Moose Hair Embroidered Birchbark Trays: French, Native, or Both.” Penn Museum Blog, November 9, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2022, from https://www.penn.museum/blog/museum/moose-hair-embroidered-birchbark-trays-french-native-or-both/ . Sioui, Linda. “The Huron-Wendat Craft Industry from the 19th Century to Today.” Musée McCord Museum, 2007. Retrieved March 26, 2022 from http://collections.musee-mccord.qc.ca/scripts/printtour.php?tourID=cw_huronwendat_en&Lang=2 .
label: Record Last Modified
content: 28 Mar 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Nova Scotia (not certain), Canada, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Micmac (Mi'kmaq) (?)
label: Culture
content: Huron (Wendat) (?)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 054110
label: USNM Number
content: E272807-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Bark Container