ornament;
head-band
- Museum number
- Am,VAN.199
- Description
-
A band of plant fibre to which is attached a fringe of thin black feathers, designed to hang from the band. At either end of the band are plant fibre cords.
- Production date
- 1790s (before)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 18 centimetres
-
Width: 46 centimetres
-
Depth: 4 centimetres
- Curator's comments
-
Ron Johnson of the Trinidad Museum, California commented that this is likely to be a veil used in "flower dances", female puberty ceremonies common among tribes of the Northwest Coast. It would be worn during the ceremony across the forehead, and cast aside at the point where the girl became a woman. The origin is likely coastal as the feathers appear to be those of a seabird, perhaps a cormorant, attached using sinew. It may be Californian in origin, but it is uncertain how far south these ceremonies were performed at the time of Vancouver's arrival on the coast. (30/03/2010)
-
Linda Yamane, an Ohlone weaver, identified the feathers as those of the brown pelican (pelecanus occidentalis), that have been split vertically and doubled over the fibre band, flattening the stripped central portion and attached with a single layer of twining. The band and cordage are made of plant fibre, but they have become discoloured with age, making identification of materials difficult. It is probably nettle fibre (urtica dioica) but might also be dogbane (apocynum cannabinum) or milkweed (asclepias californica). This was designed as a headband or veil that would hang across the eyes and upper face. (13/04/2010)
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1891
- Acquisition notes
- Collected on George Vancouver's voyage to Hawaii and the NW coast of North America 1791-1795.
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Am,VAN.199
- Additional IDs
-
CDMS number: Am1891C25.199 (old CDMS no.)