Quillwork-Embellished “Cree” Coat: Object Analysis for Anthropology of Museums

Quillwork-embellished leather coat collected by George Byron Gordon.
Image Courtesy of Margaret Bruchac and the Penn Museum. Museum
Object Number: NA3635.

April, 30, 2015.

Pauline Saribas, of the Penn Museum Blog, has written a reflective post about a quillwork embellished "Cree" hide coat from the Penn Museum's collection which was obtained from the Hudson's Bay Company.

"It is hard to know what this particular coat meant to its Native maker and wearer. There is only slight evidence of wear on the inside and sleeve ends, suggesting it was rarely worn. Perhaps it was made specifically for a collector? Since the quillwork displays such careful symmetry, perhaps it was regalia to be worn on a special occasion? "

-Pauline Saribas, Penn Museum Blog.

To read the full post, click here.

For more information,

Visit:

• Penn Museum
• Hudson's Bay Company
• Government of Manitoba
• Hudson's Bay Company History
• Hudson's Bay Company Archives
• " Dating from the 1670s to modern times HBCA's collection is immense - approx. 2 km in linear extent. The collection documents daily events at almost 500 trading posts as well as voyages in Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic waters. Records trace HBC's evolution from a trading company, through its involvement in land sales, oil and wholesaling, to its current nationwide presence as a retail giant. Less well-known aspects of HBC's history are also extensively documented. These range from its role as a major Allied purchasing and shipping agent in the First World War, to its attempts at fur trading in Russia in the 1920s, to even more exotic ventures such as the film business."
• The Technique of Porcupine-Quill Decoration Among the North American Indians
• William C. Orchard, The Museum of the American Indian Heye Foundation, 1971.
• Infinity of Nations
• National Museum of the American Indian
• Cree Métis Coat, 1874
• Cree misko takiy (hide coat), ca. 1780-1820
• The Museum of Natural and Cultural History, University of Oregon
• Métis Textiles
• The History and Analysis of Pre-Aniline Native American Quillwork Dyes
• Christina Cole and Susan Heald, Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings, 2010.
• Equinox, a new Cree teen superhero, joins DC Comics lineup.
• May 2, 2014.