THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. TEIT, JAMES MEMOIRS, 2, 1900

The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.

Museum Expedition 1904, Museum Collection Fund

Museum Expedition 1904, Museum Collection Fund

This dyed black deerskin pouch is decorated with a false flap, a modified "V" shaped line that is elaborated to seem like the opening of the bag. The edge of this "flap" is bordered with braided quill work in stripes of orange and blue, edged at the top and bottom of the border with thin white lines. A thin, undulating white line has been embroidered above this border. From the bottom of the border, enhancing this illusion of a flap, metal cones filled with reddish deer hair are suspended. Similar cones with deer hair are suspended from the bottom of the bag. The bottom half of the bag is embroidered with quills in a complex of motifs. Three double-curved forms or bifurcating lines are embroidered with thin lines or orange, blue and white. These forms "sprout" from a wider double band of orange and white braided quill work, elaborated with thin outlines in blue and white. The border or groundline for these sprouting forms is surrounded by an irregular, zig-zag outline in white with some blue at bottom. At the base of each of the five resulting points of the zig-zag are five circles, each composed of concentric rings made of quill embroidered lines of white, orange and blue. The ribbon strap of the pouch is now deteriorated, appearing to be maroon with yellowish stripes.

The saddle is constructed as a heavy pad, enclosed within a durable covering of smoked skins. The skins were cut in an hourglass shape and then sewn together with sinew. The pad itself is stuffed with deer of buffalo hair or, possibly grass as a cushion. A large rectangular piece of Stroud cloth, now brown, has been attached across the center of the saddle. It is finished with two lobe-like shapes and edged with white beads. The seams of the pad are edged with multi-colored quillwork in yellow, light blue, lavender, orange, brown, black and white. Black cotton fringe has been attached to the two narrow ends of the saddle. On each of the longer sides are four elongated cloth tabs, red at the center, tan at the edges and beaded with small geometric forms and lines in white, blue and orange. The tabs are trimmed at the bottom with deer hair tufts and interspersed with a fringe of large black, blue and amber glass beads. A cloth rosette decorates each of the four corners of the pad, containing four interconnected lobes that are fashioned in red, blue and black silk and Stroud cloth and ornamented with beads. Below each rosette are appliquéd lozenge forms or pointed ovals, containing two small triangles placed back to back, also edged with white beads. The remnants of what might be stirrup leathers are concealed under the cloth. They are covered by a lighter, softer skin (deer?). The strap remnants seem to be recycled from some other object - - one side has a green, black and red painted design. Some native repair is evident. See Jarvis supplemental file Arts of Americas office.

Constructed from a single piece of recycled buffalo hide, formerly painted, these side seam moccasins retain some of the design known as "box and border," in particular one of the terminal parts of the "box" pattern on the painted soles. The painting may have been scraped off the piece of the skin that forms the upper section. The decoration of the vamp is primarily bird quills. These "U" shaped sections of the moccasins are made up of concentric parallel lines. The bottom of the "U", nearer the toe, is composed of three yellow bands, alternating with orange. The upper part of the"U" is physically continuous with this, but is delineated by an abrupt change in color. Alternating rectangles of brown and blue make up the parallel, shorter bands in this section. Thin rows of yellow, orange, and black porcupine quill cover the side seam. Blue pony beads adorn the edge of the tongue and cuff. The laces are ornamented at the tips with tin cones stuffed with red deer hair. All the sewing is done with sinew. See Jarvis supplemental file in Arts of Americas' office.

The mocassins are constructed with smoked buckskin that is gathered into a series of small folds or "puckers" by seams running from the area above the toes to the area below the ankle. The seams are decorated by quillwork made up of orange lines and centered white and dark purple triangles crossed by a series of four additional linear designs. The seams of the heel are decorated in simple configured quillwork bands of white, light blue, and dark purple crosses. Cuffs are added onto the mocassins as separate semi-circular pieces of deerskin with quilled borders containing an undulating dark purple band and several straight lines. Metal cones, stuffed with dyed red deer hair are suspended from the edges of the cuffs.