Series Of Pictures
date: label: Accession Date
content: 21 Dec 1866
name: label: Donor Name
content: Roderick R. MacFarlane
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "CUT IN OUTLINE ON WOOD AND COLORED. 8 WOODEN PLATES."
label: Notes
content: For an extensive article on these plaques, with illustrations, see "Painted wooden plaques from the MacFarlane collection : the earliest Inuvialuit graphic art" by David Morrison, Arctic, v. 59, no. 4, Dec. 2006, p. 351-360.
label: Notes
content: Source of the information below: Inuvialuit Pitqusiit Inuuniarutait: Inuvialuit Living History, The MacFarlane Collection website, by the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre (ICRC), Inuvik, N.W.T., Canada (website credits here http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/posts/12 ), entry on this artifact http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/241 , retrieved 1-8-2020: Eight wood plaques, possibly cut from packing boxes, each of which has illustrations on both sides. The illustrations are thought to have been prepared by Inuvialuit. They have been created by incising lines into the surfaces of the plaques, and then adding charcoal and red ochre for colour. The scenes depict hunting and fishing, animals (real and imaginary), Inuvialuit camps and several scenes that may be of events at Fort Anderson. For more about these illustrations, see David Morrison, 'Painted Wooden Plaques from the McFarlane Collection: The Earliest Inuvialuit Graphic Art' (2006), in the 'Learn' section of this website.
label: Notes
content: Plaque #1, side A, is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/292: Illustration on a wood plaque, created by incising lines into the surface and then adding a black pigment, probably charcoal. The illustration shows a polar bear and is framed by a rectangle. Plaque #1, side B, is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/293: Illustration on a wood plaque, created by incising lines into the surface and then adding red and black pigments, probably ochre and charcoal. The illustration shows a bowhead whale hunting scene, with five people in an umiaq pursuing a bowhead whale. In the front of the umiaq a standing figure appears about to throw a harpoon towards the whale. The umiaq is being propelled by three seated people, and another figure standing at the back is steering with a steering oar.
label: Notes
content: Plaque #2, side A, is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/294: Illustration on a wood plaque, created by incising lines into the surface and then adding red and black pigments, probably ochre and charcoal. The illustration shows three men in kayaks pursuing a group of seven white whales (belugas). The kayaks appear to have floats on the decks, behind the hunters. One of the men is holding a harpoon, and appears to be in the act of throwing it at one of the whales. Plaque #2, side B, is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/295: Drawing on a wood plaque. This appears to be 'doodling', using ochre to create random lines and shapes.
label: Notes
content: Plaque #3, side A is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/296: Illustration on a wood plaque, created by incising lines into the surface and then adding red and black pigments, probably ochre and charcoal. This drawing shows to people lying in what appear to be bunk beds in a European style structure with a peaked roof. The person in the top bunk appears to be a woman. Next to the bunks is a kettle or pot hung in front of a fireplace, with a chimney extending up the wall and through the roof. Plaque #3, side B is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/297: Illustration on a wood plaque, created by incising lines into the surface and then adding red and black pigments, probably ochre and charcoal. This drawing shows a group of four snow houses, beside which are three upright poles with pelts attached to them. In the foreground are two men in Inuvialuit style parkas . One of the men is holding a knife, and they may be arguing or fighting.
label: Notes
content: Plaque #4, side A is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/298: Illustration on a wood plaque, created by incising lines into the surface and then adding red and black pigments, probably ochre and charcoal. This drawing shows two men in kayaks hunting swimming caribou, probably at a river crossing. One of the hunters has thrust a lance into the side of a caribou, which is bleeding from the mouth or nostrils. Plaque #4, side B is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/299: Illustration on a wood plaque, created by incising lines into the surface and then adding red and black pigments, probably ochre and charcoal. This drawing shows two men in Inuvialuit-style parkas who appear to have weapons in their hands. In the background may be a winter sod house with a tent used for cooking connected to the entrance tunnel. Behind the house is an upright pole with three pelts attached, and a structure that might be a raised stage made from logs used for storage.
label: Notes
content: Plaque #5, side A is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/300: Illustration on a wood plaque, created by incising lines into the surface and then adding red and black pigments, probably ochre and charcoal. This drawing depicts a man in Inuvialuit clothing holding onto an animal that has a body shaped like a dog, antlers like a caribou, and a beak and feet that resemble those of a bird. Plaque #5, side B is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/301: Illustration on a wood plaque, created by incising lines into the surface and then adding red and black pigments, probably ochre and charcoal. The illustration most likely relates to Fort Anderson. It shows three men who are Europeans, judging from their beards and dress, sitting at a table.
label: Notes
content: Plaque #6, side A is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/302: Illustration on a wood plaque, created by incising lines into the surface and then adding red and black pigments, probably ochre and charcoal. In this drawing two people who appear to be inside a dome-shaped snow house are having sex, while a third individual who appears to have a weapon in his hand is spying on them. A dog is shown crouching outside the snow house. Plaque #6, side B is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/303: Illustration on a wood plaque, created by incising lines into the surface and then adding red and black pigments, probably ochre and charcoal. This drawing depicts two people pulling sleds, using lines that pass around their chests. One of the individuals is being aided by a small dog. A pole attached to that sled has what appears to be a raven attached to it.
label: Notes
content: Plaque #7, side A is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/304: Illustration on a wood plaque, created by incising lines into the surface and then adding red and black pigments, probably ochre and charcoal. This drawing shows a seated man and a standing woman. Both are dressed in European clothing, and the drawing likely shows the interior of one of the houses at Fort Anderson, with a table, several household items and a small dog. Plaque #7, side B is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/305: Illustration on a wood plaque, created by incising lines into the surface and then adding red and black pigments, probably ochre and charcoal. This illustration appears to depict two people hunting birds in trees. Both people are wearing parkas. One is aiming an arrow at a bird in a tree, and the other appears to be standing on a branch under a nest with a bird in it high in a second tree. A third bird is also shown, possibly falling to the ground.
label: Notes
content: Plaque #8, side A is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/308: Illustration on a wood plaque, created by incising lines into the surface and then adding red and black pigments, probably ochre and charcoal. The drawing appears to portray a bird with antlers. In front of the bird is a shape that may represent a snare. Roderick MacFarlane, who acquired this item for the Smithsonian Institution, remarked in an article he later wrote on 'Land and Sea Birds Nesting Within the Arctic Circle in the lower Mackenzie River District' that a female golden eagle he collected for the Smithsonian Institution had been 'snared upon her nest'. Plaque #8, side B is described: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/307: Illustration on a wood plaque, created by incising lines into the surface and then adding red and black pigments, probably ochre and charcoal. The illustration depicts a person, most likely a man judging from the shape of the parka, sitting on a stool and fishing through a hole in the ice. In one hand he is holding a fishing rod with a line attached to it, and at the end of the line appears to be a baited fishing lure. A figure that is likely a dog is standing nearby. Below the ice, which is shown by a horizontal line, four fish appear to be attracted to a fish head used as bait. The sizes of the fish and shapes of the fins suggest that they are burbot (upper left), greyling (upper right) and lake trout (lower right), all of which are common to the area and can be caught on hooks. Two of the fish, and the fish head, have spurred lines attached to their heads, suggestive of antlers.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 21 Apr 2020
label: Specimen Count
content: 8
place: label: Place
content: Anderson River, Northwest Territories, Canada, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Inuit, Inuvialuk (Inuvialuit)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 66A00090
label: USNM Number
content: E2545-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Plaque