Context

It has been noted that the bow is from California, and the arrows are from different sets, perhaps also from as far north as the Columbia River (J.C.H.King, Museum of Mankind 1 2 1992). This bow is very similar to one illustrated in W. O. Oldman catalogue, Vol. 2-3, February 1906, No. 35, which is listed as Makah (G. Crowther); Exhibited: A) Loaned by CUMAA to the Vancouver Centennial Museum May 1986, returned January 1987. The original European tribal names and, where possible, current tribal names have both been given in separate GLT fields.; Collected by: Swaine.Admiral.Spelman in ?- - 1791; ?- - 1792; ?- - 1793; ?- - 1794; ?- - 1795.
Literature: Also see the 'Catalogue of the Northwest Coast Collection: Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology' (1996), Dr Gillian Crowther. (J.Tanner, May 1998). See 'From Pacific Shores: Eighteenth-century Ethnographic Collections at Cambridge - The Voyages of Cook, Vancouver and the First Fleet' (J. Tanner, 1999:81).
Vancouver Collection: George Vancouver (1758-1798) was born in King' s Lynn, Norfolk. His father, John Jasper Vancouver was assistant collector of customs at King's Lynn, which was at that time a busy seaport. It is believed that through his connections he was able to bring George to the attention of Captain James Cook, who was then preparing to sail on the second of his world voyages. Thus George entered the Royal Navy in 1771 upon receiving an appointment from Cook and thereby gained a rigorous training in seamanship. In 1791 Vancouver was sent on a mission to receive the surrender of the Spanish post at Nootka Sound in present day British Columbia, to survey the coast of the American Northwest, and to search for a water connection to the eastern part of the continent. He wrote a lengthy account of his voyage entitled, ' A Voyage of discovery to the North Pacific ocean, and Round the World' (1798). It was on this latter voyage that Spelman Swaine accompanied Vancouver and acquired the objects held at UCMAA. Spelman Swaine was born on 1st January 1769 at Lynn Regis in Norfolk and died on 13th January 1848 at Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. His forebears had risen from the ranks of yeoman farmers to gain land in the village of Leverington and build Leverington Hall about 1640, which was held by the family until the end of the 18th century. Swaine himself was brought up at Swanns, another mansion in Leverington, but later moved to Wisbech. He began his naval career in April 1782 and by the October he saw action as midshipman on the ' Recovery' in Lord Howe' s relief of Gibraltar. Thereafter, he lead an eventful and distinguished naval career, finally gaining the rank of Rear Admiral in 1846. In particular, the Swaine collection at UCMAA originates from his period with Captain George Vancouver' s expedition round the world between 1791 and 1795 on the HMS Discovery, as midshipman and later lieutenant. Swaine and his family gave a small but important collection from this voyage to Wisbech Museum, which were later acquired by UCMAA. (J.Tanner, 1999).