The Isaac Cowie collection of Plains Cree material culture from Central Alberta

68 Pages·1991·3 MB·English

by  VanStone, James W

572.05
FA
N.S.
no. 14-20
1990-93

r/
Anthropology
SfEW SERIES, NO. 17
The Isaac Cowie Collection of Plains Cree
Material Culture from Central Alberta
James W. VanStone
September 30, 1991
Publication 1427
PUBLISHED BY FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
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v'^ioat. T. B. 1978. Flora ofBarroColorado Island. Stanford Universii) I'.to.,, :,iui.iu,u, ;^<i,ii.. ^43pp.
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!angdon, E.J. M. 1979.YageamongtheSiona: Culturalpatterns invisions,pp. 63-80.Jn Browman, D. L.,and R.
Schwarz, eds.. Spirits, Shamans, and Stars. Mouton Publishers,The Hague. Netherlands.
1946. The historic tribes of Ecuador, pp. 785-821. In Steward, J. H., ed.. Handbook ofSouth American
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FIELDIANA
Anthropology
NEW
SERIES, NO. 17
The Isaac Cowie Collection of Plains Cree
Material Culture from Central Alberta
James W. VanStone
Curator, NorthAmericanArchaeologyandEthnology
DepartmentofAnthropology
FieldMuseum ofNaturalHistory
Chicago, Illinois60605-2496
Accepted April 3, 1991
Published September 30, 1991
Publication 1427
PUBLISHED BY HELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
© 1991 Field Museum ofNatural History
LibraryofCongress Catalog CardNumber: 91-72796
ISSN 0071-4739
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OFAMERICA
Table ofContents List of Illustrations
Abstract 1 1. Map ofcentral and southern Alberta ... 21
I. Introduction 1 2. Plains Cree tipi on exhibit at the Field
The Plains Cree 1 Columbian Museum 22
Isaac Cowie, Collector forthe World's 3. Plains Cree tipi on exhibit at the Field
Columbian Exposition 2 Columbian Museum 23
II. The Collection 3 4. Tipi cover pattern 24
Shelter 3 5. Tipi coverdecoration 24
Subsistence 4 6. Back wall 25
Transportation 6 7. Back wall 25
Household Equipment 8 8. Quiver, bow, and bow cover 26
Clothing 9 9. Arrows 27
Men's Clothing 9 10. Snowshoes,snares,knifesheath,hoofrat-
Women's Clothing 10 tles 28
Children's Clothing 11 11. Model fish trap 29
Personal Adornment 11 12. Snowshoes 30
Ceremonial and Medicinal Equipment . 12 13. Woman's saddle 31
Warfare 13 14. Parfleches 32
Games 14 15. Loading platform 33
III. Conclusions 15 16. Dog travois 33
Acknowledgments 17 17. Toboggan 34
Literature Cited 17 18. Toboggan 35
Appendix 19 19. Dog harness 35
20. Backrest 36
21. Detail ofhare skin blanket weaving .... 37
22. Spoons, pothook, poker, stone club .... 38
23. Fan, moccasins, sinew and bodkin, pro-
vision bag 39
24. Man's shirt (front) 40
25. Man's shirt (back) 41
26. Man's "medicine shirt" 42
27. Man's buffalo skin robe 43
28. Moccasins, winter hat 44
29. Mittens 45
30. Armband, garters, children's hoods 46
31. Woman's dress, sleeves, leggings 47
32. Women's hoods 48
33. Woman's buffalo skin robe 49
34. Breastornament, "scarifyingflints,"steel
coil, necklace 50
35. Medicine bags 51
36. "Feather head ornament," double ball,
lancet, top, horn cup, pipe, stick game . . 52
37. Pipestem, racket orlacrosse sticks 53
38. "War shirt" (front) 54
39. "War shirt" (back) 54
40. "War leggings" 55
41. War club, "warcap," drum 56
m

The Isaac Cowie Collection of Plains Cree
Material Culture from Central Alberta
James W. VanStone
Abstract
The collections ofthe Field Museum ofNatural History contain 110 ethnographic objects
collectedamongthePlainsCreeofcentralAlbertain 1892fortheWorld'sColumbianExposition
by Isaac Cowie, a retired Hudson's Bay Company trader livingin Edmonton. The artifacts in
thiscollectionaredescribedandillustrated. Forcomparativepurposes,informationisincluded
from previous studies ofthe Plains Cree, notably those ofMandelbaum (1940, 1979).
I. Introduction The historic westward movement ofthe Cree
beganwhentheyobtainedfirearmsfromtheHud-
The Plains Cree son's Bay Company after 1670. With theirallies,
the Assiniboine, the Cree moved rapidly in a
The Algonkian-speaking Cree Indians are a northwesterlydirectionalongtheprairieandpark-
widespread f)opulation extending from Hudson land river systems, assuming the role ofmiddle-
Bay to the Rocky Mountains. Archaeological re- meninthefurtradebetweenthepostsonHudson
search indicates that there were ancestral Cree in Bay and the western tribes. By 1765, Cree occu-
northwestern Manitobabya.d. 900andin north- piedthenorthernfringesoftheparklandineastern
emSaskatchewanand southern Manitobabya.d. Alberta(Ray, 1974,p. 23, fig. 9; Milloy, 1988,pp.
1500 (Wright, 1971, p. 3; Smith, 1981, pp. 257- xiv-xv).
258). MostofthePlainsCreeprobablydescended Cree expansion to the northwest began to de-
from theearlywestern WoodsCreewhohad pen- cline in the late 18th century and had virtually
etrated the regions north ofthe North Saskatch- stopped by 1784, the year a smallpox epidemic
ewan Rivercenturiesbeforethecomingofthefur weakened them as a military power. Abandoning
trade. The spread of the horse on the northern the northern limits oftheir territory, which they
prairies musthave provideda strongincentiveto hadtakenfromtheChipewyan,theymovedsouth-
developa moreexclusivedependenceon thebuf- ward into the grasslands and parklands south of
falo herds. Linguistic evidence provided by re- the North Saskatchewan River. This movement
gionaldialectsconfirmsancestraltiesbetweenthe increasedduringthe 1820swithadecreaseofgame
Plains Cree and the western Woods Cree (T. J. in the forests and the attraction oflarge numbers
Brasser, letter to author, October4, 1990). ofbuffalo in the parklands seasonally. By 1821,
The environment of the Plains Cree was the theCreeoccupiedtheparklandsfromeast-central
broad band ofaspen parkland alongthe northern AlbertaacrosssouthernandcentralSaskatchewan
edgeofthePlains,atransitionalareathatprovided to southwestern Manitoba. During this period,
resources ofboth the forests and the grasslands. many Cree lived at the edge ofthe forests, from
They were, however, a Plains tribe in their eco- where they could venture out into the Plains in
nomic dependence on the buffalo, which were pursuit of buffalo, but some established them-
hunted by chute and pound in autumn and early selves as full-time residents ofthe open prairies
winterwhentheanimalsenteredtheborealforest, (Ray, 1974, pp. 98, 178, fig. 33; Mandelbaum,
and with horses during the spring and summer 1979, pp. 7, 40-41, fig. 1).
when the herds moved southward. Intheearly 19thcentury,therefore,theCreenot
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, N.S., NO. 17, SEPTEMBER 30, 1991, PP. 1-56
only penetrated the Plains region but underwent tory in 1903 (VanStone, 1983). Otherearly field-
an important social transformation that resulted workers included Pliny Earl Goddard (1919) for
in the evolution ofa Plains Cree culture. The In- theAmericanMuseumofNaturalHistoryin 1911
dianswhohad previouslybeen trappersandtrad- andAlansonSkinner(1914a,b, 1919)forthesame
ersmovingbycanoealongtheriversoftheboreal institution in 1913. By far the most significant
forests became horse-owning inhabitants of the contribution, however, was made by David G.
parklandsandprairies(Milloy, 1988,p.xv).Some Mandelbaum in 1934. His monographs (1940,
Indianslivingineast-centralAlbertaspentpartof 1979) are the majorreference sources forthe cul-
theyearinthewoodlandsnorthoftheNorthSas- ture ofthe Plains Cree.
katchewan River and had a mixed woodlands-
plains culture (Dempsey, 1986, p. 49).
The Plains Cree were less affected than other Isaac Cowie, Collector for the
Plains tribes by the smallpox epidemic of 1837- World's Columbian Exposition
1838 and, with increasedmigrationintothepark-
land-grasslandregion,theybecameoneofthemost In 1891, FredericWardPutnam, Curatorofthe
numerousIndiangroupslivingintheprairieprov- Peabody Museum ofArchaeology and Ethnology
inces. In 1863, Palliser estimated that there were atHarvardUniversity,wasappointedChiefofthe
11,500PlainsCreelivingnorthoftheUnitedStates DepartmentofEthnologyandArchaeologyforthe
border. Later epidemics reduced the number to World'sColumbian Expositionto be held in Chi-
about 7,000 by 1871 (Ray, 1974, p. 191). cago the followingyear. With his assistant, Franz
By 1870, the buffalo were becomingscarce and Boas, his task was to assemble a large anthropo-
thePlainsCreeattemptedtoextendtheirterritory logical collection for the Exposition and, for this
westward to reach the herds. This effort resulted purpose, fieldpartiestovariouspartsoftheworld
inacrushingdefeatbytheBlackfoot,andin 1871 were directed to collect ethnographic objects and
a numberofIndian leaders asked the chieffactor other materials representing many different cul-
at Edmonton for a treaty with the government. tures.PutnamandBoasalsocontactedindividuals
Between 1871 and 1876,Indianclaimsthroughout livinginrelevantareastomakecollectionsforthe
theparkland-grasslandsregionwereeliminatedby Exposition; onesuch individualwas Isaac Cowie,
Treaties 1 through 7. The first ofthese to affect atthattimearesidentofEdmonton,Alberta.Very
the Plains Cree was Treaty No. 4, signed by little is known about the collecting arrangements
Qu'Appelle in 1874, which included much of made between Cowie, Boas, and Putnam. In a
southern Saskatchewan. Treaty No. 6, signed at bookdescribinghisexperiencesasaHudson'sBay
Forts Carleton and Pitt in 1876, included central Company trader in southern Saskatchewan be-
Albertaandwest-centralSaskatchewan(Ray, 1974, tween 1867and 1874,Cowie(1913,p. 295)noted
pp. 191, 228; Dempsey, 1986, pp. 53-54; Milloy, that "in 1892 I was employed by the celebrated
1988, p. xvi). anthropologist. Dr. Franz Boas, to make an eth-
The terms ofall the western treaties were sim- nological collection from and take measurements
ilar. The Indians gave up the rights to their land ofthe Indians ofthe North Saskatchewan [Riv-
in return for reservations, treaty payments, and er]." Apparently he was also directed to collect
assistanceineducation,farming,andhealth.How- "folk-loreandlegends,"butwhetherornothewas
ever, not all Indian bands received reservations givenspecificcollectinginstructions,asweresome
whenthetreatiesweresigned. Aslateas 1944,the other collectors for the Exposition (VanStone,
SunchildbandofPlainsCree signedTreatyNo. 7 1972, p. 36), cannot now be determined.
andreceivedareservationof12,800acresonboth IsaacCowiewasbomin 1848 atLerwickinthe
sidesoftheBaptisteRiver,atributaryoftheupper Shetland Islands and was educated at grammar
NorthSaskatchewanRivernorthofRockyMoun- schoolsinLerwickandAberdeenbeforeattending
tain House (Stelfox, 1958, p. 26). Edinburgh University as a medical student for 2
In 1892, Isaac Cowie ofEdmonton, Alberta, a years. Heenteredthe serviceofthe Hudson'sBay
recently retired Hudson's Bay Company factor, Company in 1867 and was stationed at Fort
made the collection ofPlains Cree ethnographic Qu'Appellefrom 1867to 1874.Between 1874and
material for the World's Columbian Exposition 1891, he served the Company at various posts in
describedinthisstudy.Thefirstanthropologistto the old Northwest Territories and retired in Sep-
undertake fieldwork among the Plains Cree was tember 1891 withtherankofJuniorChiefTrader.
StephenC.Simms,whocollectedinsouthernSas- Cowiethenwentintobusinessforhimself, firstin
katchewan forthe Field Museum ofNatural His- Edmonton and later in Winnipeg, where he died
FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY