Baby Carrier Item Number: 2964/1 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Heavily beaded baby carrier. The back piece is made of a thick, flat board of wood, rounded at top, narrowing considerably toward bottom, covered in hide. The front top of the board is beaded with a pattern of flowers of (from top) blue, brown, red and yellow with blue, all attached to green vines with leaves. The background is white beads. The bottom front half of the board is a leather tie-up bag with a canvas collar into which a baby can be placed. Over this is black velvet, beaded with three multicoloured, large flowers connected by a black and white vine. Green scalloped material edges the apron. The back side is red fabric with a blue and yellow flower pattern. On the back of the carrier is a belt attached at both sides.

Narrative

Noted as being from St. Mary's Reserve, near Cranbrook. The donor was related, through her mother, Ida McKinney (nee Clark), to Andrew and Mae Clark. The Clarks (her mother's aunt and uncle) were homesteaders on a property near Cranbrook, near St. Mary's Reserve. Apparently gifts were exchanged between the family and their Ktunaxa neighbours on the reserve. These two pieces, 2964/1-2, were said to have been given by the Clarks to the donor's mother in the 1920s or 1930s.

Item History

What

Name
Baby Carrier
Identification Number
2964/1
Type of Item
carrier
Material
skin, wool fibre, cotton fibre, synthetic fibre ?, wood, glass ? and plastic ?
Overall
height 68.4 cm, width 32.3 cm, depth 11.0 cm

Who

Culture
Ktunaxa
Previous Owner
Mary Newman
Received from
Mary Newman (Donor)

Where

Holding Institution
MOA: University of British Columbia
Made in
British Columbia, Canada

When

Creation Date
between 1900 and 1940
Ownership Date
before August 2, 2012
Acquisition Date
on August 2, 2012

Other

Item Classes
beadwork; textiles
Condition
good
Accession Number
2964/0001