Dress

Object Details

Collector

Miss Frances T. Densmore

Rev F W. Smith

Victor J. Evans

Donor Name

No Information

From card: "Chippewa?. Collector Rev. F.W. Smith, according to otherwise blank tag attached to specimen, but no record of such a collector. Black cotton, sleeves of same fabric, with bands of red ribbon applique and blue cut beads, shoulder straps of beadwork with vari-colored floral designs on white background, hem of 2 rows of alternating maroon ribbon applique and blue cut beads above strip of white cotton, attached leggings of red flannel with borders of 3 rows of alternating brown ribbon applique and blue cut beads." A Chippewa style strap dress, with sleeves.

Cory Willmott, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, notes: Rev. F.W. Smith is possibly Reverend Frederick W. Smith (ca. 1849 - 1932), an Ojibwa preacher at White Earth Reservation under Bishop Whipple. There is a photograph of him in the Bishop Whipple collection (Collection III.40.259) of the Minnesota Historical Society: http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/display.php?irn=10297975&return=brand=cms (accessed 6/20/2017). Smith's wife Sophie was a beadwork artist. Frances Densmore collected a similar dress and sleeves at White Earth (catalog numbers E357965 and E357904 in the Victor Justice Evans collection Accession 113605), and therefore it seems possible that this dress was also collected by Densmore. It is also possible that this dress was part of the Victor Evans accession as well.

Note that hair roach EC422 has purple yarn with it. Yarn has tag attached with the name "Rev. F. W. Smith"

Record Last Modified

12 Mar 2023

Specimen Count

5

Culture

Chippewa (Ojibwe, Anishinaabe) (?)

Accession Date

1991

Accession Number

999999

USNM Number

ET951B-0

Object Type

Dress

Place

White Earth Reservation (not certain), Minnesota (not certain), United States, North America

See more items in

Anthropology

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

Topic

Ethnology

Record ID

nmnhanthropology_8501221

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/316902780-aae3-473c-ba65-0c3bad58fc31