Blanket Item Number: 1992.3 from the MAA: University of Cambridge
Description
Button blanket made from dark blue wool material, with red felt borders . Central design made of red cut out felt with plastic buttons highlighting the shape of a raven with a young raven inside it. The blanket is a child' s blanket and would be worn at social occasions involving the whole community, e.g. potlatches, memorial feasts, weddings, etc. Button blankets were adaptations of dark blue Hudson Bay blankets which were traded up the coast in the 1850' s. The designs appliqued in red and outlined in buttons are of the owner' s crests and serve to identify the wearer as belonging to specific lineages. Recently in an effort to encourage traditional knowledge of lineage membership the Council of the Haida Nation have been giving button blankets to all young Haidas who graduate from high school, thereby instilling a sense of pride and belonging for the young; Complete
Context
Exhibited: On display in Northwest Coast case, Maudslay Hall, CUMAA, from 1990; Collected by: Crowther.Gillian in 1989
Item History
- Made by Theresa Mitchell in Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii), British Columbia, Canada
- Received from Gillian Crowther during 1991
What
Who
- Culture
- Haida
- Creator
- Theresa Mitchell
- Received from
- Gillian Crowther
Where
- Holding Institution
- MAA: University of Cambridge
- Made in
- Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii), British Columbia, Canada
When
- Acquisition Date
- during 1991
Other
- Keyword
- Personal Adornment