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Longer Description

Bag made from thick unbleached cream coloured cotton textile. Rectangular in shape. A cream coloured cord handle has been stitched to the top of each side of the bag. A butterfly motif [see Primary Documentation field for the significance of this motif] has been printed on to one side of the bag in dark brown paint. Below the butterfly is the inscription 'I support Repatriation!' also printed in dark brown paint. The bag has been sewn by machine. [MdeA 11/03/2008]

Description

Bag printed with a butterfly design on one side and inscribed 'I support Repatriation!'

Research Notes

The following information comes from Haida delegates who worked with the museum's collection in September 2009 as part of the project “Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge”:
This bag was viewed alongside other domestic items on Monday Sept 14, 2009. Candace Weir explained that the design for the bag was created by a male artist [Ron Dallyn] who is not Haida but his mother-in-law [Margaret Hewer] is. She was blind, but shared the story of the significance of the butterfly with him. [CAK 21/05/2010]

For further information on Haida repatriation activities, visit www.repatriation.ca (the webpage of the Skidegate Repatriation and Cultural Committee), watch 'Stolen Spirits of Haida Gwaii' directed by Kevin McMahon that documents the return of ancestral remains from the Field Museum in Chicago to Haida Gwaii, and read 'The Rebirth of Our Ancestors, the Rebirth of Ourselves' by Lucille Bell and Vince Collison published in the catalogue for the exhibition Raven Travelling: Two Centuries of Haida Art, held at the Vancouver Art Gallery. [CAK 21/05/2010]

Primary Documentation

Acquisition form - Collection of material from North America USA and Canada. [MdeA 11/03/2008]

Day book entry - NORTH AMERICA, CANADA; HAIDA. Bag [and hat] given to donor in 2004. Part of a range of commercially produced goods sold to fund travel and activities of the Repatriation Committee. "How'aa" translates as thank you. [MdeA 11/03/2008]

Pre-PRM label [in Related Documents File] - How'aa for supporting the Old Massett Repatriation Committee! Margaret Hewer and Ron Dallyn created the butterfly logo to represent the wandering spirits in museums around the world. Price ... [MdeA 11/03/2008]

Pre-PRM label [attached to object with a plastic tag] - 9206A-0 Promo Tote ASI 51654 [MdeA 11/03/2008]

Pitt Rivers Museum label [stitched onto bag] - N. AMERICA, CANADA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, HAIDA GWAII; NW COAST HAIDA. Bag. Don. Laura Peers. [JFK 15/06/2009]

Related Documents File - The Haida Project Related Documents File contains video of research sessions and interviews with Haida delegates from September 2009 as part of the project ‘Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge'. It also includes post-visit communications that discuss object provenance. For extensive photographic, video, and textual records documenting the Haida research visit as a whole, including but not limited to preparations of objects for handling, travel logistics, British Museum participation, transcribed notes from research sessions and associated public events held at PRM, see the Haida Project Digital Archive, stored with the Accessions Registers. Original hand-written notes taken during research sessions have been accessioned into the Manuscripts collection, in addition to select other materials. [CAK 02/06/2010]