An Act of Kindness: Part 1.5

An Act of Kindness: Part 1.5

I’m sure you’re all wondering what’s happened to the blog, I promised a Part 2 for the story of Tullauhiu’s leg and I have yet to deliver!

Truthfully, I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of research. Although I’ve discovered some interesting tidbits, I want to wait until I’ve uncovered the full story before I present it to you here.

I had some great feedback from Part 1 of this blog post, from a variety of different sources, all of which lead me in different directions. As someone who loves a good mystery I embraced these leads like any research detective would, and this has only led me further and further down the rabbit hole. The further I went, the less I felt I could blog about it until I had the facts straight.

This story entwines archaeology, oral history, and the broken trails of early record-keeping. I think it will be a fascinating tale, and I hope I will find out how we came to acquire this artifact.

In the meantime, I try to maintain my focus on what this prosthetic leg meant for Tullauhiu. The loss of a limb would be a devastating experience, and within Inuit culture this was felt even deeper. One of my colleagues mentioned that a person with a severed limb was no longer considered whole. She sent me a chapter from her MA thesis which discussed this:

“A person with a severed limb or organ is considered of a lesser kind then other human beings. Only an angakkuq, a shaman, could survive a “disarticulation”.  In fact, going through such an experience was part of the shamanic rite of passage. Angakkut stood at the articulation of the terrestrial and cosmological worlds (Saladin d’Anglure 1983, 2006a; Trott 2006).” (Cloutier-Gelinas 2010:62).

Imagine then what the gift of a prosthetic leg would have meant for Tullauhiu!

After consulting with some folks, I decided that while I sort through the details of this mystery I’d leave something for Tullahuhiu to let him know I understand the importance of this artifact. Although food was suggested, I knew our conservators would not be pleased with me if I left some jerky in the storage areas. Instead I chose something else that could be of some use, a small iron file.

A rudimentary wooden prosthetic leg in an open collections storage box.

Image © Manitoba Museum

References:

Cloutier-Gelinas, M.

2010  Through Space, Time, and Otherness: A Spatial Analysis of 15th to 20th century Labrador Inuit Settlement Patterns.  Unpublished MA thesis, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL.

Saladin d’Anglure, B.

1983 Ijiqqat: voyage au pays de l’invisible inuit. Etudes/Inuit/Studies 7(1): 67-83.

2006a Reflexions anthropologiques a propos d’un 3e sexe social chez les Inuit.  Conjonctures, 41 (42): 177-205.

Trott, C.J.
2006 “The Gender of the Bear”. Etudes/Inuit/Studies 30(1): 89-110

Dr. Amelia Fay

Dr. Amelia Fay

Curator of Anthropology & the HBC Museum Collection

Amelia Fay is Curator of Anthropology and the HBC Museum Collection at the Manitoba Museum. She received her BA in Anthropology from the University of Manitoba (2004), an MA in Archaeology…
Meet Dr. Amelia Fay

An Act of Kindness

When I first started at the museum I spent a lot of time opening cabinets and drawers to check out this remarkable collection that is now under my care. There are many impressive artefacts, but this one really struck a chord with me.

I opened a drawer to find what appears to be a simple box (carefully constructed by skilled conservators!). A closer look at the photo label revealed someone’s leg! I was a bit shocked, I did not expect to find a prosthesis in the HBC collection. I immediately went to our database to find out more.

A long white box with a photograph of the contents taped onto the top.

A photograph taped to the top of a collections storage box showing a rudimentary prosthesis leg, labelled "Tullauhiu's leg".

As it turns out, Tullauhiu was an Inuit hunter who lost his leg to a polar bear. John Ross (yes, THE John Ross who went in search of the Northwest Passage) ordered the Victory‘s carpenter to fit Tullauhiu with a wooden leg. The carpenter apparently worked with the ship’s surgeon and Tullauhiu was fitted with a prosthetic leg on January 15, 1830.

Constructed from wood, leather, iron nails, sheet copper, and copper nails (hence the green-ish tinge) Tullauhiu was given a new lease on life.  What prompted John Ross, on his second Arctic voyage, to do this?

Ross briefly mentions this event in his 1835 Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a NorthWest Passage (this excerpt is from page 5). Apparently the event is also discussed in Farley Mowat’s Ordeal By Ice (1993: pg 228-236) but I have yet to snag a copy to see for myself.

Perhaps it really was just a simple act of kindness, or maybe there was more to the story (page 52 of Ross’s narrative alluded to something). Either way, looking at this prosthetic leg in a box gets me thinking about what this leg meant for Tullauhiu.

A view of the artifact inside the storage box, a prosthetic peg leg.

A clip of a journal entry reading, "Not to name mere instances, we found the aged [indecernable] drawn on a sledge by his companions, when the old man above alluded to was suffered to walk as best he could : as was equally the case with Tullauhiu, whom we supplied with a wooden leg to replace his loss."

Close-up on the top portion of the wooden leg.

That’s what I love about my job, it’s not just the material ‘things’ in the collection, but the stories behind them and thinking about what these items meant for the people who made and used them.

 

*UPDATE: The plot thickens on this interesting artifact, stayed tuned for part 2!*

Dr. Amelia Fay

Dr. Amelia Fay

Curator of Anthropology & the HBC Museum Collection

Amelia Fay is Curator of Anthropology and the HBC Museum Collection at the Manitoba Museum. She received her BA in Anthropology from the University of Manitoba (2004), an MA in Archaeology…
Meet Dr. Amelia Fay

Guest Blog – HBC Intern

If you have been reading the HBC Blog, you are probably aware of some of the work involved with being a curator. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to experience the job firsthand, to see if it is really as great as Amelia makes it sound? My name is Kristina, and for the past couple of months, I have been able to do just that. I am a Masters student studying Curatorial Practices at the University of Winnipeg, and I am working at The Manitoba Museum as an Intern. So far it has been an amazing experience.

It is fascinating to get a behind-the-scenes look at everything it takes to keep an institution like The Manitoba Museum running. While most of my time is spent job shadowing with Amelia,  I have also had a chance to visit several departments to see the roles they play in creating exhibits, designing educational programming, and keeping our artifacts safe from damage.

Aside from job shadowing, I am also working on a couple of projects for the Museum. One of these projects involves exhibit renewal within the HBC Gallery. Presently, there are several props being utilized, along with the many artifacts on display.  Ideally, we would like to be able to identify which objects are props and which are artifacts, so that we can eventually replace the props with actual artifacts from the collection. As mentioned in some of our earlier blogs, the HBC Museum Collection is much larger than what is currently on display in the gallery. We simply don’t have the space to display all of the artifacts.

An individual standing in front of a large York Boat on display in the Hudson's Bay Museum Collection Gallery. They are holding a notepad and writing something on it.

At this point, I have completed the first stage of the project. Armed with the inventory binders, I spent a morning just looking at what was on display, recording any discrepancies and identifying which objects were props. The next step will be to make sure that the props are entered into our database so that we have a better record of exactly what is on the floor at any given time. Once this is all done, I will be able to complete my report, listing recommendations as to how to better use the existing collection by replacing props with actual artifacts. The main goals of this project are to make sure we can optimize the visitor experience, as well as showcasing more of our incredible HBC Museum Collection.

 

Image: Identifying artefacts in the York Boat.

My First Acquisition

Even though the HBC collection is full of amazing treasures, I’m always interested in acquiring other special items with an HBC connection. Curators at The Manitoba Museum can’t just add items willy-nilly, we go through a process with our Collections Committee to make sure that we’re acquiring items that are significant to Manitoba (or in my case, significant to the HBC, which has a much broader geographic scope). I had some help navigating this pre-acquisition process from our Curator of History, Roland Sawatzky, who had been in touch with the donor prior to my arrival, and he showed me the ropes.

An individual holding up a carved piece of horn with a lid affixed to the top.

I’m sure you’re dying to know what I’ve picked up for the HBC collection, and I literally picked it up as the donor lives in Toronto and I happened to be there to meet with the HBC History Foundation.  Following my meetings I met up with Stewart Scriver, he’s a fascinating guy who owns a cool vintage shop (if you’re in Toronto check it out, Courage my Love in Kensington Market) and has a personal collection of some really neat things from all over the world.

An engraved horn with a flat bottom and lid affixed to the top.

What’s he holding?

Why that’s a scrimshawed horn!

Scrimshaw is an art form that involves engraving ivory, bone, teeth (typically from sperm whales) or horn.  The practice originated with whalers who had access to these marine mammal parts.   A black pigment is rubbed into the etching to bring it out, traditionally this would have been soot (lampblack) but later ink was used.  We have lots of great scrimshawed pieces in the HBC collection, but none quite like this.

 

Image: The horn standing upright, note the detail on the brass lid.

What makes this one so special?

Well, for one it’s a horn and not a piece of marine mammal. Its function is also uncertain, it has a wooden base and brass lid so it must have been used to contain something but it’s not like a traditional powder horn. If you have ideas on what this might have been used for please leave them in the comments!

Close-up view on an engraving on the side of a horn container depicting individuals rowing in a boat.

Close-up on the other side of a horn cannister with an engraving depicting an individual on a horse.

One part of the scene depicts men rowing a York Boat, the other side is a man on a horse smoking a pipe.

The base of the horn cannister with "M. McKay Fort York" carved into the base.

What’s the HBC connection?

Take a close look at the bottom, see that name?  M. McKay?  There was an M. McKay (Malcolm) who worked for the HBC, he started out at York Factory from 1841-1842.  Yes, I know it says ‘Fort York’ not York Factory, but in the early days it was probably called Fort York (and we all know how names can stick).  The donor also had the horn looked at by a Curator in Toronto and, based on the engraved images, he determined that it couldn’t possibly be the Fort York in Ontario.

I still have some research to do, but I wanted to share my first acquisition with you because I’m pretty pumped about it. More to come!

Dr. Amelia Fay

Dr. Amelia Fay

Curator of Anthropology & the HBC Museum Collection

Amelia Fay is Curator of Anthropology and the HBC Museum Collection at the Manitoba Museum. She received her BA in Anthropology from the University of Manitoba (2004), an MA in Archaeology…
Meet Dr. Amelia Fay

Love Thy Nonsuch

We’ve got a lot going on at The Manitoba Museum these days, Trees of Life recently opened, WRAPPED: The Mummy of Pesed will open on October 25, but with all this excitement part of me really feels for our permanent exhibits. I know, exhibits don’t have feelings so there is probably no jealousy brewing between the old exhibits and new, but I’ve always been torn between my beloved treasures and the new shiny things put before me. Think back to when you got a new toy/book/car/fancy electronic device, did you ever feel bad for your older ones? No? Just me then…

Fortunately Museum staff have come up with just the right thing to help me cope with these feelings of betrayal, a month-long celebration of one of everyone’s favourite museum treasures: the Nonsuch!

View of the side exterior of a wooden sailing vessel in a museum gallery.

November is Love Thy Nonsuch month, presented by Gendis Inc.

Why November?  Well, November 2013 marks the 40th anniversary of her arrival here at The Manitoba Museum!

Anyone who loves the ship should be sure to keep your weekends open for these exciting events:

  • Public talks every Saturday & Sunday at 2 pm in the Nonsuch Gallery
  • Nonsuch tours, including access to the often off-limits hold area
  • Costumed interpreters throughout the Nonsuch Gallery interpreting the fur trade era

All programming is included with regular admission to the Museum Galleries!

I will be opening up the celebrations with a public talk on the history of the Nonsuch on November 2, at 2 pm. All are welcome to attend and I promise to keep you enthralled by the fascinating history of the original ship that helped set the fur trade in motion. It’s not just a pretty pirate-ship look-alike, its got a story of its own to tell!

A small wooden sailing vessel, a shallop, on display in a museum gallery, in front of a wall mural depicting a sunset that shallop's white sails are raised.

So after you’ve come down to see Trees of Life and WRAPPED make a plan to come back, bring the whole family, and get (re)acquainted with your Nonsuch.

Can’t make it down but still want to show your love? Why not Adopt an Artifact!

We’ve recently added a number of items from the Nonsuch that you could symbolically “adopt” and help support our conservation efforts to keep this beauty for generations to come! Click here to see what’s up for adoption.

 

Image: Don’t forget to say hello to the shallop too!

Dr. Amelia Fay

Dr. Amelia Fay

Curator of Anthropology & the HBC Museum Collection

Amelia Fay is Curator of Anthropology and the HBC Museum Collection at the Manitoba Museum. She received her BA in Anthropology from the University of Manitoba (2004), an MA in Archaeology…
Meet Dr. Amelia Fay

The Collection for Adventurers!

I am one month in to my new job as Curator of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) Museum Collection at The Manitoba Museum and I’m still in that “pinch-me” phase, it feels too good to be true. Why? Let me fill you in.

I grew up in Winnipeg and I LOVED The Manitoba Museum. It was through visits to this museum, and other fabulous museums and historic sites in Manitoba, that I developed my interest and passion for human history. When I moved away for graduate school I never thought that a job would open up in my hometown, let alone at my beloved museum. Yet here I am, I’ve secured my dream job!

Maybe you’re wondering what makes this job so dreamy, or maybe you too have a long-time love affair with this place so you completely understand where I’m coming from. We are so lucky to have a museum right here in Winnipeg that has something for everyone. For me, the HBC collection is particularly exciting as it consists of 26,200 artifacts that I get to explore and to present to you.

Photo looking at the closed double doors of a museum storage room. A large sign on one of the doors reads, "Hudson's Bay Company Museum Collection / Euro-Canadian Storage / (Trade Goods)".

One of 3 large storage rooms for the HBC collection.

An open cabinet with spaced out drawers. One is opened revealing woolen blankets.

An entire cabinet full of point blankets!

The Hudson’s Bay Company’s original name was ‘the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson Bay’. The Company of Adventurers referred to those who owned stock, they were called ‘adventurers’ because they risked their own money on the establishment of the fur trade. I feel a bit like an adventurer myself, as I get to explore the vast collections. In the coming months I’ll share my discoveries with you, no financial risk required!

Dr. Amelia Fay

Dr. Amelia Fay

Curator of Anthropology & the HBC Museum Collection

Amelia Fay is Curator of Anthropology and the HBC Museum Collection at the Manitoba Museum. She received her BA in Anthropology from the University of Manitoba (2004), an MA in Archaeology…
Meet Dr. Amelia Fay

“Relics of Interest”

A dark-coloured book cover with the Hudson's Bay Company crest in the centre. The title reads, "Relics of Interest: Selections from the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection" written by Jamie Morton.

By Dr. Jamie Morton, past Curator of the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection

 

Since my last blog entry, I have continued to learn more about the HBC Museum Collection. Two conference papers – one for the 2012 Rupert’s Land Colloquium in May 2012, and the other for the 18th Inuit Studies Conference in October 2012 – helped to focus my research in specific directions, and opened up many new questions about the collection. Most of the summer, and part of the fall, was occupied in writing and preparing an illustrated book which highlights and places in context a sample of the objects in the HBC Museum Collection. Relics of Interest: Selections from the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection, arrived back from the printers in late October, and went on sale on December 3. Copies are available at the Museum Shop at The Manitoba Museum; please contact the Museum Shop for more information.

As mentioned in April’s blog entry, the HBC Historical Exhibition, later the Museum Collection, was initiated in 1920, when the London Committee of the HBC authorized the collection and purchase of “relics of interest,” to create and present a collection symbolizing the Company’s contribution to the evolution of Canada. Since then, objects and collections that relate to the HBC and its role in Canadian development have been added, by donation and by purchase, to form today’s HBC Museum Collection of approximately 26,000 objects. The book follows loosely the four-part mandate followed at the initiation of the Collection – to present “the history of the Hudson’s Bay Company, life in the fur trade, the story of the pioneer settlers and the customs, dress and industries of the aboriginal tribes.” The book is organized around a selection of the objects that have been collected to symbolize these four themes.

Close-up on a small ivory model of a ship.

Ch.1: A Chukchi [Siberia] ivory model of the SS Baychimo, TMM HBC 73-298.

A hide dress displayed on a dress form, with red and blue detailing around the top and bottom.

Ch.2: Plains hide dress, attributed to the collection of Sir George Simpson, TMM HBC 2265.

One of the challenges was choosing a small but appropriate sample – there are so many things that could be used to represent each of the four themes identified at the establishment of the HBC Historical Exhibition. It was important to reflect the diversity of the collection, evoking the wide geographic and temporal range of the Company’s operations, and its economic and cultural impact. The featured objects come from across Canada, Great Britain, the United States, and even Siberia. They date from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, produced in factories, fur trade posts, and indigenous communities, by a wide range of women and men. Often the stories of how objects arrived in the HBC Museum Collection – their provenance – are as important as the objects themselves, and the book offers some of these stories.

Ch.3: HBC copper kettles, TMM HBC 1314-1318.

A dark-coloured dining chair chair from the side. The back curves up and backwards, and the two arms slant down towards the front, with visible wear on the top of them from use. The seat is upholstered in a worn red fabric.

One of the more distinctive features of this collection is the way in which it was consciously assembled by the HBC, to symbolize the themes that Company employees considered important. It is enlightening to consider how the symbolic values attached to certain objects and groups of objects have changed over the ninety-three years the HBC Museum Collection has existed. Aesthetic considerations have remained strong throughout – the desire to assemble symbolic “treasures.” More recently these have been challenged by the interpretive power of objects – how effectively they represent larger themes in the economic and social history of the HBC, Manitoba, and Canada. The opportunity, and the challenge, presented by this fine collection, selected to symbolize an early twentieth century corporation, is how best to utilize it in support of defining provincial and national identity into the twenty-first century.

 

Image: Ch.4: HBC country-made chair, TMM HBC 2427.

Anniversaries and Anthropologists

By Dr. Jamie Morton, past Curator of the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection

 

The impetus for the formation of the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection came from the celebrations surrounding the firm’s 250th anniversary in 1920. The HBC was keenly aware of its role in the development of Canada since 1670, and commemorated the event with a variety of special events, re-enactments, and pageants across the western and northern regions of the country. Although the HBC “Historical Exhibit” was not created in time for the 1920 celebrations, the initiative continued, and the Exhibit was opened in the Winnipeg retail store of the HBC in June 1922.

A group of Indigenous people in formal attire seated on a grassy lawn. In the distance groups of people stand in front of a multi-storey building.

A view of some of the HBC’s 250th anniversary celebrations at Lower Fort Garry, May 1920. Photo by M. Lindenberg, TMM HBC 2562.

A black and white photograph of a room set up as a museum exhibit with display cases, display tables, and artifacts mounted on the walls.

The HBC Historical Exhibit in 1922. Catalogue of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Historical Exhibit at Winnipeg, Third Edition, 1923, 1. TMM HBC 007-208.

The object of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Historical Exhibit at Winnipeg is to depict by means of relics, pictures, documents, models, etcetera, the history of the Hudson’s Bay Company, life in the fur trade, the story of the pioneer settlers, and the customs, dress and industries of the aboriginal tribes. (1921 approved statement, quoted in Hudson’s Bay Company, “Catalogue of Historical Relics,” 1935, 6)

 

With the cooperation of his employer, the federal Minister of Mines, Harlan I. Smith, an ethnologist at the Victoria Memorial Museum in Ottawa, travelled to Winnipeg in 1921-22 to assist in organizing the Historical Exhibit, selecting objects for display and writing text “to interest visitors.”  The Exhibit’s mandate to depict aboriginal life and culture corresponded well to Smith’s own anthropological work for the federal government.

A collection of copper coloured artifacts - a harness, yew wedge, and bark pounder.

These and the following objects were collected by Harlan I. Smith in Bella Coola. At the top is part of a climbing harness, for harvesting the inner bark of hemlock trees, in the middle is a yew wedge, used for splitting planks, and at the bottom is a bark pounder or hackler used to prepare cedar bark. TMM, HBC 1530, HBC 1531, HBC1508.

A woven sheet or bag.

Eulachon strainer, used to extract the grease from eulachon, a smelt-like fish. The eulachon grease was a valuable commodity, used as a condiment for various dried foods, such as the inner bark of the hemlock tree. TMM HBC1512.

Close up on an open-weave basket side.

Detail of an open weave spruce root basket used to transport fern roots, clams, and other foodstuffs. TMM HBC 1514.

In 1920-21, he was engaged in fieldwork among the Nuxalk and Tsilqot’in people in the Bella Coola Valley of British Columbia, focusing on the traditional uses of plant and animal materials. For his 1922 fieldwork season, Smith “kindly offered to secure for the Hudson’s Bay Historical Exhibit typical specimens of Indian work in that District.” These objects form an interesting assemblage within the HBC collection, reflecting Smith’s interest in traditional Nuxalk culture and society – objects chosen more for their functional than aesthetic value. This is enhanced by the field notes and visual records Smith obtained at the same time. A pioneer in using film in ethnology, the objects he collected for the HBC Museum Collection are complemented by the still and moving images held today in the collections of the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa. The clear provenance [information about the origin and ownership of an object] and complementary documentation transforms this small collection, assembled to represent everyday life for the Nuxalk people, into another treasure within the HBC Museum Collection.

A rack made of cedar branches.

Rack made of red cedar used to dry food such as berry cakes and fish, for preservation. TMM HBC 1504.

John Halkett, William Kempt, & the Red River Settlement

By Dr. Jamie Morton, past Curator of the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection

 

John Halkett’s visit to British North America came just a decade after his brother-in-law, Lord Selkirk, initiated the Red River resettlement scheme – and the bicentenary of the arrival of the Selkirk settlers is being commemorated in many ways in 2012. There is a variety of objects in the HBC Museum Collection that relate to these formative years of the Red River Settlement, starting with the Halkett collection. Another important group in the HBC Collection relating to this place and time was assembled by William Kempt.

A series of artifacts clustered together on a white background.

The fine collection of First Nations objects assembled by William Kempt in the 1820s.

A painting depicting a small group of people interacting along a riverbank near tipis.

Untitled (Scene on River Bank), Peter Rindisbacher, 1822-24, watercolour. This is one of the paintings collected by William Kempt, now in the HBC Museum Collection. TMM HBC 83-23-F.

Close-up on the painting in the previous images showing two individuals in discussion, one of whom is holding a child.

He had a keen eye for material culture, and it is fascinating to compare objects collected by individuals like Halkett and Kempt with Rindisbacher’s portrayals of the objects being worn or used by the people of Red River in the 1820s.

One of the things that makes the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection so fascinating is these sorts of stories and connections that exist between the collectors, the collections, and the objects.  Added to the stories of the objects and their creators, this means that the HBC Collection symbolizes and evokes broad historical themes, in a way that may be unique among Canadian museum collections.

 

Image: Detail of TMM HBC 83-23-F. This portrays some of the material culture of the Red River population in the 1820s. Objects represented by Rindisbacher such as the woolen and hide leggings, woolen hood, iron cooking pot, trade gun, and bow and arrows are found in the HBC Collection at The Manitoba Museum.

Halkett Boat to Halkett Collection

By Dr. Jamie Morton, past Curator of the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection

 

The Arctic explorer and HBC employee Dr. John Rae maintained his enthusiasm for Peter Halkett’s invention through several expeditions. A Halkett boat was left for him at Sault Ste Marie in 1845, and in the record of his first Arctic voyage in 1846-47, he referred to it in glowing terms. Rae described Peter Halkett as “the ingenious inventor of the portable air-boat, which ought to be the travelling companion of every explorer.” In August 1847 Rae reiterated his enthusiasm for the Halkett boat:

During the whole of our spring fishing Halkett’s air-boat was used for setting and examining the nets, and was preferred by the fishermen to the large canvas canoe, as it was much lighter, and passed over and round the nets with more facility. Notwithstanding its continued use on a rocky shore, it never required the slightest repair. It is altogether a most useful little vessel, and, as I have said before, ought to form part of the equipment of all surveying parties, whether by land or sea. (John Rae, Narrative of an Expedition to the Shores of the Arctic Sea in 1846 and 1847, London, T. & W. Boone, 1850, 116, 176.)

In 1852 Rae requested “1 Halkett’s Air Boat large enough to carry 3 persons,” and referred to “Halkett’s admirable little boats” following his 1853-54 Repulse Bay expedition. After using them on several Arctic voyages, he was convinced  of their usefulness. (E. E. Rich, ed., Rae’s Arctic Correspondence, 1844-55, London, The Hudson’s Bay Record Society, 1953, 224, xcvi.)

A moosehide coat with a squared neckline and embroidered floral patterns along the centre point and the lower portion of the coat. Short fringes hang off the shoulder points.

Métis or Cree Moosehide Coat collected by John Halkett on his 1821-22 visit to the Red River Settlement. With its combination of European form, floral decoration, and indigenous materials, this coat is a fine example of early nineteenth century Métis or Cree art. TMM HBC 34-30-A.

A whalebone club with a wrapped handle above a carved face at the base of the club.

Nuu chah nulth Whalebone Club collected by John Halkett. This is one of several Northwest Coast objects in the Halkett collection. TMM HBC 38-25.

While the Halkett boat in the HBC Collection evokes the heroic era of Arctic exploration, and remarkable characters like Sir John Franklin, Sir George Simpson, and Dr. John Rae, the associations extend further. The inventor of the boat, Lieutenant Peter Halkett (1820-1885) of the Royal Navy, was the son of John Halkett (1768-1852), a major shareholder in the HBC who became a member of the company’s managing London Committee in 1811. Peter Halkett’s mother was the sister of Lord Selkirk, another major shareholder in the HBC, and the initiator of three schemes to relocate displaced Highlanders from Scotland to British North America. The last of these, in 1811, included a large land grant from the HBC in Rupert’s Land, centred on the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, which became the Red River Settlement, and later the Province of Manitoba. When Selkirk died, John Halkett became the executor of his estate, travelling to Canada, Rupert’s Land, and the Red River Settlement in 1821-22 as part of his duties.

In his travels, he assembled a collection of objects produced by Inuit and First Nations societies from Hudson’s Bay to the Northwest Coast, which today forms an important and well-documented part of the HBC Museum Collection. Many of the objects John Halkett collected are on permanent exhibit in the HBC Gallery of The Manitoba Museum.