Sled Dog Blanket
Despite showing apparent signs of wear and moth damage from years of use and inadequate preservation, the sled dog blanket illuminates the dark, dreary storage room. The intricate, vibrant glass-beaded “floral sprays [of] bud, bells, berries, and blossoms” embroidered against black wool and colorful pompoms attached to the standing iron do not merely represent the aesthetics of the Indigenous past (Hail and Duncan 1989: 202). Rather, such elaborate designs serve as a constant reminder of the historical colonization of the Native Subarctic people by the French, English, and Scottish settlers during the 19th century and the consequential trauma inflicted on these communities (Hail and Duncan 1989: 22).
Contact between the Subarctic people and Europeans began as early as the 16th century. Enticed by the availability of lucrative beaver fur, Europeans arrived in the Subarctic to engage in trade with the Native people (Hail and Duncan 1984: 21). In exchange for firearms, iron tools, traps, steel needles, cloths, tea, flower, liquor, etc., the Native people traded substantial amounts of fur with the Europeans (Hail and Duncan 1989: 21). Close trading relationships between the Natives and Europeans led to intermarriages and the emergence of mix-descent folks, the Métis, giving rise to distinct culture, traditions, and practices (Hail and Duncan 1984: 22). One of the distinct practices is the incorporation of floral designs in Native embroidery, which the Grey Nuns of the Roman Catholic Oblate introduced in the early 19th century (Duncan 1989: 59). In an attempt “to prepare young girls to accomplish God’s will and to become Christian wives,” nuns established a missionary school to teach young Native women domestic skills and floral embroidery (Duncan 1989: 59). Using new material such as glass beads, velvet, felt wool, gold and silver braids, also introduced through trade, Native and Métis women created accessories with elaborate floral patterns (Hail and Duncan 1989: 22). While it is unknown who made the sled dog blanket, from the detailed, vivid colors and assorted motifs of berries, bells, and blossoms, I speculate that a European-educated Native or Slave-Métis woman, specifically from the Great Slave Lake region, created the sled dog blanket for a male dog runner in the community. In this way, the sled dog blanket is ultimately a material embodiment of the way in which white settlers sought to colonize, Christianize, and civilize the Native Subarctic people.
Once completed by the skilled Métis artisan, the embellished sled dog blanket, "tapie (tupie),” was possibly sold to a dog runner who ran for the Hudson’s Bay Company, the major trading company in the region (Hail and Duncan 1989: 200). While sled dog blankets may appear to be worn by sled dogs for warmth and protection, these accessories were intended specifically for show purposes (Hail and Duncan 1989: 200). The blankets were only placed over sled dogs when the dog team approached trading posts (Hail and Duncan 1989: 200). The dog runner would halt the team to dress up the sled dogs. As the sled dogs raced towards a trading post, the bright colors of the embroidered flowers and the cadence of the chiming bells signified their impending arrival to the men at the trading post (Hail and Duncan 1989:200).
The wife of a Hudson Bay trader recalls the boisterous arrival of a dog team,
“Several miles away from the fort, [the dog runners] made a stop to smarten themselves and the dogs. Black and velvet saddle brightly beaded and fringed with red, white, green, and blue wool were fastened to the backs of the dogs. Fox tails and colored ribbons decorated the leather collars and standing irons. Up the hill they would come, the men shouting as they swung through the gates of the fort with their cariole piled with furs, heading for the big house” (Duncan 1989: 94).
According to Theirry Gentis, current curator of Haffenreffer, the sled dog blankets were essentially the fashion of the time, indicating the social statuses of the Native and Métis. In addition, ribbons on the standing iron assisted the dog runner in determining direction during tough snowy conditions (Duncan 1989: 94).
The sled dog blanket, which Colcleugh described as a “very old beaded dog blanket” at the time of she acquired it, suggests that the original Métis owner was a prominent trader who frequently engaged in fur trading with the white settlers and thus ran his dogs. The name of the owner remains until even today since Colcleugh never recorded the names of Native people who purchased from (Hail 1991:19). Colcleugh whose travels in the Subarctic was limited by the Hudson Bay officers’ agenda, probably encountered the owner at Fort Simpson during one of his frequent trading expeditions in the Great Slave Lake – Mackenzie region. Colcleugh who was known to be an avid collector of small Native objects of artistic value, may have been attracted to the delicate, complex embroidered designs on the sled dog blanket. Unlike many of the Native objects in Colcleugh’s collection that were new and made solely for tourists at the time, Colcleugh ultimately chose to purchase the sled dog blanket in spite of the evident marks of wear. Perhaps, Colcleugh’s personal interest in the techniques and materials of Native accessories persuaded her to pursue the purchase (Hail 1991: 18). Since the blanket was no longer in brand-new condition, it was probably less expensive for Colcleugh to purchase.
Based on the research of Barbara Hail, former director and curator emerita of Haffenreffer, Colcleugh’s acquisition of the sled dog blanket in 1894 might have been be due to her longing to seek “the meaning and function of an object within the community” (Hail 1991: 29). With no written records, Colcleugh’s exact intention of collecting the blanket remains a mystery to this day. I can only place myself in Colcleugh’s shoes and infer her reasons for collecting. The transfer of ownership from the Métis owner to Colcleugh undoubtedly expanded and contributed to the then collection and ethnographic understanding of Native peoples. However, Colcleugh’s obtainment of the sled dog blanket is another example of the colonial paradigm – the desires of the white colonizers “to explore and romanticize the spectacular landscapes of far lands and the unfamiliar social customs of other people” (Hail 1991: 18).
For 36 years, the sled dog blanket, along with other Native objects, stayed in Colcleugh’s collection until 1930 when she sold her immense collection to Haffenreffer. During this period, it is unknown whether Colcleugh used the sled dog blanket. From the well-kept conditions of the octopus bag, which Colcleugh also collected in 1894 during the same expedition in Mackenzie River, I conjecture that Colcleugh carefully hung up the sled dog blanket in her home for admiration and exhibition. Although I cannot be certain of the reason for Colcleugh’s decision to sell her collection to Haffenreffer, I assume that old age contributed to her retirement from collecting Native material culture. The sled dog blanket, which was once used and valued for its pragmatic and artistic function, is confined in the Haffenreffer’s archival storage room, receiving occasional visits from curious academics and students like me.
As I conclude this object biography, I turn to reflect on my positionality as a Brown student, a person of color, and most importantly as an outsider of the Métis community. Again, I am greatly aware that my status as a Brown student gives me the privilege to physically access and to retold the narrative of an invaluable object – one that is not from my culture, my community. Being Asian American of Malaysian-Chinese descent, I have and continue to see my culture, traditions, and language misrepresented and culturally appropriated in society and popular media. Likewise, my retelling of the sled dog blanket’s life story is one that is not perfect – incomplete without the voices of its prior owners, specifically the Métis people. I grapple with the following question: who am I to talk about a community that I am not part of and to describe to tell the narrative of an object displaced from its home and people? While I cannot speak for the Métis people, I can imagine that they may feel frustrated at my portrayal of the sled dog blanket and of Métis culture and people. Certainly not my intent, but I recognize that this object biography of the sled dog blanket may even contribute to the historical trauma suffered by the Métis people and other Indigenous people. Moving forward, I hope to be more conscience in my writing and discussion about Indigenous people and material culture, acknowledging and appreciating the unheard voices behind each object. In doing so, I hope that I can contribute to the forum for the repatriation of objects to their rightful owners as well as the movement towards healing and truth-telling.
Works Cited:
- Duncan, K. C. (1989). Northern Athapaskan Art: A Beadwork Tradition. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
- Hail, B. A. and Duncan, K. (1989). Out of the north: the subarctic collection of the Haffenreffer Museum of anthropology. Bristol, RI: Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology.
- Hail, B. A. (1991). "I Saw These Things": The Victorian Collection of Emma Shaw Colcleugh. Arctic Anthropology,28(1), 16-33. Retrieved January 19, 2018, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40316288
