Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Catalog Data

Collector:
Miss Frances T. Densmore  Search this
Rev F W. Smith  Search this
Victor J. Evans  Search this
Donor Name:
No Information  Search this
Culture:
Chippewa (Ojibwe, Anishinaabe) (?)  Search this
Object Type:
Dress
Place:
White Earth Reservation (not certain), Minnesota (not certain), United States, North America
Accession Date:
1991
Notes:
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
Topic:
Ethnology  Search this
Accession Number:
999999
USNM Number:
ET951B-0
See more items in:
Anthropology
Data Source:
NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/316902780-aae3-473c-ba65-0c3bad58fc31
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8501221