Day 275 - Cree woman's scarf



December 13, 2021

Gallery 746 displays objects from the Diker Collection of Native American Art.  I know I've seen the collection at least twice before, but I don't recall many of the items currently on view, and there are others I distinctly remember that are not on exhibit. So I have to assume that pieces from the collection are periodically rotated - and that this is true in many other galleries housing the permanent collection as well. Were I to start my project all over again, I might see some very different things.

The gallery itself is very large, with many items on display, often with detailed captions; in fact, the museum map shows it divided into two parts, called 746 South and 746 North. I'm feeling tired and decide to call it a day after looking at the objects in only the south part and to leave the rest for my next visit.

The displays are sectioned off by geography and culture area, with objects from the Eastern Woodland, Pacific Northwest, Arctic, Plains, Southwest, and so on shown together. Many display characteristics I've come to associate with Native American art: the use of naturally available materials (e.g., porcupine quills), sometimes integrated with materials from European-American culture (e.g., beads); the importance of animal figures, which often have spiritual significance; the incorporation of geometric designs; and the fine, elaborate workmanship (although of course these are objects in a museum collection!). I admire many of them very much. Yet at the same time I have to acknowledge that I don't love many of them, and I suspect this is because the cultures they represent are so very foreign to me. In this way, the gallery reminds me of the Michael Rockefeller wing, with its collection of African and Pacific Islander objects.  Perhaps I am incorrigibly Eurocentric.

Today's object is one I do like - and covet - a great deal: a woman's "hood" (although I'd describe it as a hood and scarf)  made in Quebec Province around 1840 by Cree women of wool, glass beads, and silk ribbon. One reason I like it so much is that it's red, white, and black - my colors! I also like the placement of the stylized scrolling floral design between two panels with more geometric designs. I read that Cree and Ojibwa women made such scarves for travel, ceremonies, and church  So presumably the Cree had been thoroughly converted by this time, and this scarf was part of a Cree woman's "Sunday best" attire.


 

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