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78564
garter
CD94-167
S75-428

Artifact NumberIII-G-843
Current Cultural AffiliationsAnishnaabe
All AffiliationsOjibwa (type/style)
Anishnaabe (type/style)
Northeastern Woodlands
Category03: personal artifacts
Sub-categoryC140: clothing accessory
Person / InstitutionAssociated party
Latest Possible Date1780/12/31 C
CaptionGarter, Northern Ojibwa, collected by Sir John Caldwell, 1774-1780
Additional InformationThe Native inhabitants of Canada's eastern subarctic woodlands - the Northern Ojibwa and Cree Indians - traditionally wore garments of animal skin decorated with porcupine quills, paint and fringes. They dressed their hair with ochre, grease and feathers, painted and tattooed their faces, and suspended ornaments of bead, shell and bone about their bodies. The garter shown here was part of this distinctive complex of native dress and adornment. It is a fine example of early artistic traditions and of the technical skills of the women who made them. The presence of imported materials - iron, trade cloth and glass beads - on otherwise traditional items suggests that it was made soon after contact with Europeans, possibly during the late eighteenth century. The garter is fashioned from dyed quills interwoven with sinew threads on a bow loom made from a bent stick. Such garters were worn as decoration, tied below the knee. Traditional eastern subarctic styles of clothing and adornment changed rapidly following exposure to European goods, technologies and fashions. Artifacts such as these are rare and irreplaceable souvenirs of a rich and complex aboriginal culture.
Multimedia
125282
CD94-686
S89-1833





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