Headdress Item Number: 3077/28 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Man's feather crown, or headdress. Circular woven crown with black and white feathers attached all around it, and two long orange-red feathers in the middle; small white feathers below.
Narrative
Purchased by the donor in Puerto Ayucucho, Venezuela, in 1989. The Yanomami are a hunter-agriculturist people who live in a northern Amazon area located on both sides of the border between Brazil and Venezuela, in the Orinoco-Amazon interfluvial region. The Yanomami had little contact with people other than neighbouring indigenous groups until the 20th century. Since the 1970s they have faced significant changes. On the Brazilian side of their territory, the Terra Indígena Yanomami was established in 1992 in the face of near-genocide. To this day, almost 60 percent of Yanomami territory is covered by mineral applications and title deeds registered in the National Department of Mineral Production in Brazil by public and private mining companies, both national and multinational. Colonization projects, implemented in the 1970s and ’80s in the east and southeast of Yanomami lands, also created a wave of land occupations that are still expanding. In addition, three military bases have been installed in Yanomami territory since 1985, leading to serious social problems among the local populations. Recently, the Yanomami created the Hutukara Yanomami Association to advocate for their rights in managing their territory and responding to the various threats to their land, in partnership with several other organizations and the states of Venezuela and Brazil.
Item History
- Made in Venezuela during 1998
- Collected during 1989
- Owned by Linda B. Alexander before October 6, 2014
- Received from Linda B. Alexander (Donor) on October 6, 2014
What
- Name
- Headdress
- Identification Number
- 3077/28
- Type of Item
- headdress
- Material
- parrot feather and coconut palm bark ?
- Overall
- height 58.0 cm, width 36.5 cm, depth 1.0 cm
Who
- Culture
- Yanomami
- Previous Owner
- Linda B. Alexander
- Received from
- Linda B. Alexander (Donor)
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- Venezuela
When
- Creation Date
- during 1998
- Collection Date
- during 1989
- Ownership Date
- before October 6, 2014
- Acquisition Date
- on October 6, 2014
Other
- Condition
- good
- Accession Number
- 3077/0028