Gift of Miss Henrietta E. Failing.

Gift of Miss Henrietta E. Failing.

Short horse whip (riding crop) made of tightly woven dark horse hair, covering an inner structure of cotton. The butt is small with an open wrist thong protruding from the top. The handle is thick, decorated with chevron and diamond shapes in red and black. Below a small ring, the flexible thong narrows toward the end, decorated in short, flowing red lines, with a solid black tip.

Pair of beaded hide wrist bands. The top of each is completely covered in beads, with a blue ground. Round red flowers on stems with green leaves decorate each end, one with a tassel of red, black and translucent beads hanging from the foliage, the other with leather thongs. Three flags on poles sit at the centre in red, white and blue. The underside of the bands are undecorated, but show the intricate stitching. They tie together with hide thongs.

Pair of large hide gauntlet cuffs, covered on the exterior by glass bead designs: on a blue background is a bouquet of flowers--orange and white in the centre, red and gold to the side, and white, green and orange at bottom; their stems are embedded in colourful foliage in green, gold, pink, yellow and blue. Matching decorative motifs are at the top corners. The cuffs open to one side and tie with a series of thin leather thongs. The interior is lined in red fabric.

Horse's beaded martingale (harness) strap. Two long straps form the edges, separated by a small rectangular bag. The beading is a background of grey with pink diagonal stripes bordered by lines of small squares in light and dark blue. These are interspersed with lines of dark blue and pink. The bag also has a background of grey, with a cross, diamond and square motif at centre. A fully beaded hide flap made of two triangles hangs from the top of the bag. Two long straps hang from the tips, partially beaded in grey and yellow. From the bottom of the bag hangs a long leather fringe with elements of brown and red dyed animal fur.

Carved and painted model totem pole. Pole has an eagle at top, wings at sides, feet planted on a small bentwood box. The box is balanced on the head of a human, with protruding nose and painted features, wearing a shoulder cloak. With his hands and feet the man grips a downward facing whale. The whale has a green and black torso with carved and painted eyes and open mouth showing clenched white teeth behind red lips. Its nose plunges into the pole’s rectangular wooden stand which is painted red and green. The back of the pole has been partially hollowed out.

Hand painted glass lantern slide. A 3-sided rectangular wooden frame holds the irregular or broken glass plate that has been hand painted on the back. The scene shows a First Nations chief being shot, with a gun right on the side of his head. He is wearing a red scarf, brown jacket and tall animal skin headdress, on a black background. The gun is held by an arm emerging from the right. The glass is held to the frame by grooves in the wood as well as small pieces of tin inserted in the wood behind the pane. An irregularly shaped wood bar crosses over the back side of the glass, glued to the frame at top and bottom.

Hand painted glass lantern slide. The square plate shows an image of a grey bear in combat with two humans. The bear stands upright, in contact with a man in a blue cloak, bleeding, who is stabbing the bear’s chest and stomach with a long spear. The bear bleeds from the spear wound, as well as from its mouth. The second figure stands behind the first and hefts a spear at shoulder level, aimed at the bear. The background of the image is black. (No frame.)

Hand painted glass lantern slide. Part a is glass slide covered with an image of two human figures in red skirts and sashes to the left of a full, grey moon. The leftmost figure leaps in the air, arms extended. The second figure is in front of the moon, facing left. The background of the image is black at top, brown at bottom. Part c is a second glass slide pointed at one end, with a black painted area in the lower centre. When matched with part a, the black part covers the leaping figure, leaving just the figure who appears to be 'carrying' the moon with a burden belt? Part b is a broken corner of part a. (No frame; irregularly shaped or broken glass.)