Male Doll Wearing Painted Hide Coat

Male Doll Wearing Painted Hide Coat

E90035-0

From Oberholtzer: "Their cloth bodies are stuffed, perhaps with caribou hair, and their heads are carved wood. Only the male of the pair has bead eyes. He wears a fitted, painted caribou-hide coat, wool cloth leggings (which lack the pointed ankle projection) and a pillbox hat with a head scarf tied beneath it... Worthy of note are the male's two bags: a round-bottomed cartridge bag is hung over his left shoulder and rests on his right hip; and a drawstring gathered panel bag is tied to the belt on his left side."

1882-1884

Naskapi or Cree

Kuujjuaq (formerly Fort Chimo), Ungava Bay region, Quebec

wood, cotton fabric, wool cloth, animal fur, caribou hide, seed beads, red and blue pigment

Identified by Oberholtzer as male and female dolls, collected between 1882 and 1884 from Kuujjuaq (formerly Fort Chimo), Ungava Bay region, Quebec, by Lucien Turner, who identified the female doll as Nenenot (Naskapi). Oberholtzer identifies the dolls as Cree, and notes that "While Turner was there [at Fort Chimo], a number of Cree families from Fort George and Little Whale River traveled there to hunt ... . Turner's extended stay in the area and the Cree presence gave him an opportunity to collection Cree items, including dolls."

painted hide

Julia Harrison, Ed. The Spirit Sings: Artistic Traditions of Canada’s First Peoples: A Catalogue of the Exhibition (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1987)

Cath Oberholtzer. 2011, "Made for Trade: Souvenirs from the Eastern Subarctic," American Indian Art Magazine, 36(2)

Cory Willmott. (2021). Decolonizing the Museum to Reclaim and Revitalize the Anishinaabe Strap Dress. Winterthur Portfolio. 55. 121-185

58.10732, -68.39968 (N 58°06′26″ W 68°23′59″)

height 43 cm; width 24 cm

doll