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However, the standard size and shape of these pouches suggest an additional function beyond private devotions. Uniform character and wide distribution indicate their use in a cult or religious organization. (c.f. Brasser 1976, p.97; Phillips 1984, p.78; Penney 1989, p.10) The symbols on these pouches suggest that the members of this cult were divided into two divisions that stood in a ritual opposition to each other. The dualistic relationship between these two groups follows from their association with major representatives of the Sky and Underworld. Research focused on these pouches and related artifacts has produced a growing body of evidence that these objects belonged to the ceremonial outfit of an early version of the Midewiwin or Grand Medicine Society, referred to as the Black Dance in the early days of the fur trade. The focus of this cult's ceremonies shifted from honoring game spirits to the curing of disease after the fur trade moved west and the Great Lakes Indians were left to face the disintegration of their society as a result of expanding white settlement. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition HistoryTransformation AGO: Reinstallation 2008, Canadian Wing, November 14, 2008 - November 15, 2011.
ProvenanceChristie's, London, England; Ron Nasser, New York City
BibliographyChristie's. (London) July 4, 1980, lot 27.
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.15.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.64.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 68.
Culture
Odawa or cultural relatives
Pouch
Datec. 1780
DimensionsOverall: 8 × 2 × 10 1/2 in. (20.3 × 5.1 × 26.7 cm)
Object numberT0007
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextPouches of this type were originally worn on a man's chest by means of a neckstrap attached to the part that extends above the opening of the pouch. Like many surviving pouches, this pouch's original fringe of red-dyed hair tassels in metal cones to the bottom edge has been lost. The size and shape of these pouches are remarkably uniform despite their long-term and widespread use by Ottawa, Ojibwa, and other tribes of the Great Lakes from at least 1760 until the 1820s. A ritual function of these black pouches is strongly suggested by the patterns of their quill-worked decoration which represent either thunderbirds, horned underwater panthers, or semi-abstract references to snakes. Thus, it seems that the pouch owner put his trust either in the powers of the Sky realm or in those of the Underworld. Both of these cosmic realms could bestow special blessings, or cause misfortune if not approached in the correct ritual manner. In these pouches were carried charms relating to hunting, as well as pipes and tobacco, for both charms and tobacco smoke played a role in the cultivation of a beneficial relationship with the spirits of the wild animals. While occupied with such ritual preparations for the hunt, the owner placed the pouch in front of him like an icon.However, the standard size and shape of these pouches suggest an additional function beyond private devotions. Uniform character and wide distribution indicate their use in a cult or religious organization. (c.f. Brasser 1976, p.97; Phillips 1984, p.78; Penney 1989, p.10) The symbols on these pouches suggest that the members of this cult were divided into two divisions that stood in a ritual opposition to each other. The dualistic relationship between these two groups follows from their association with major representatives of the Sky and Underworld. Research focused on these pouches and related artifacts has produced a growing body of evidence that these objects belonged to the ceremonial outfit of an early version of the Midewiwin or Grand Medicine Society, referred to as the Black Dance in the early days of the fur trade. The focus of this cult's ceremonies shifted from honoring game spirits to the curing of disease after the fur trade moved west and the Great Lakes Indians were left to face the disintegration of their society as a result of expanding white settlement. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition HistoryTransformation AGO: Reinstallation 2008, Canadian Wing, November 14, 2008 - November 15, 2011.
ProvenanceChristie's, London, England; Ron Nasser, New York City
BibliographyChristie's. (London) July 4, 1980, lot 27.
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.15.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.64.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 68.
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