Button Blanket Item Number: 2922/5 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Button blanket of dark brown velvet with red cotton borders, multiple seams. A thunderbird motif is appliquéd in red fabric in the centre of the blanket, and floral and other motifs are applied around the border with buttons, pieces of abalone shell, beads, and commercially produced “rickrack” trim. Lines of glass beads go through the red portion and the brown. The backing is a patterned cotton fabric. Hand written "Tonto" in black marker on the red border; on the opposite side of the border a Griffin patch has been sewn on. A plastic tag with the name “STANLEY” has been adhered to the bottom corner.
History Of Use
Button blankets are a form of ceremonial regalia usually made with European-manufactured wool Melton cloth, which became widely used by coastal women by the latter decades of the 19th century. Its multiple seams indicate that it was repurposed from a dress.
Narrative
For Mabel Stanley, a high-ranking Kwakwaka’wakw woman (1901 - 1979) born in Cape Mudge, this button robe – handed down from her parents Chief Joseph and Lucy Johnson – was a marker of her identity and her connection to her family’s clan origins, ancestral territories, and inherited rights. The blanket was signed "Tonto" in pen on the lapel by Jay Silverheels when he was shown around Vancouver by Mabel Stanley. Silverheels was well-known at the time for playing a character named "Tonto" on the television series "The Lone Ranger".
Item History
- Made in British Columbia, Canada during 1930
- Owned by Mabel Stanley before 1979
- Owned by Mabel Stanley Regalia Family Collective before November 9, 2011
- Received from Mabel Stanley Regalia Family Collective (Donor) on November 29, 2011
What
- Name
- Button Blanket
- Identification Number
- 2922/5
- Type of Item
- blanket
- Material
- cotton fibre, plastic, abalone shell, glass and wool fibre
- Manufacturing Technique
- “velvet” ?
- Overall
- height 132.0 cm, width 179.0 cm
Who
- Culture
- Kwakwaka'wakw
- Previous Owner
- Mabel Stanley and Mabel Stanley Regalia Family Collective
- Received from
- Mabel Stanley Regalia Family Collective (Donor)
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- British Columbia, Canada
When
- Creation Date
- during 1930
- Ownership Date
- before 1979 and before November 9, 2011
- Acquisition Date
- on November 29, 2011
Other
- Item Classes
- textiles
- Condition
- fair
- Accession Number
- 2922/0005