Knife and Sheath
early 19th century
Sioux
Arts of the Americas
THE JARVIS COLLECTION
The articles in this case and the adjacent clothing case [see 50.67.6] are some of the earliest and finest Eastern Plains pieces in existence. They were collected by Dr. Nathan Sturges Jarvis, a military surgeon stationed at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, between 1833 and 1836. Most items were made by the Eastern and Middle Dakota (Sioux) or by the peoples of the Red River region, including the Red River Métis, Anishinabe, Plains Cree, and Salteaux. Some of the objects were purchased by Jarvis, and others may have been given to him in exchange for his medical services.
By the early nineteenth century, the growing numbers of white settlers and military personnel—following decades of fur trading—had depleted much of the game on which the Dakota and Red River peoples depended. Indigenous ingenuity in combining trade materials such as cloth, metal, and glass beads with traditional hides, pipestone, and porcupine and bird quills is evident in these objects.
The articles in this case and the adjacent clothing case [see 50.67.6] are some of the earliest and finest Eastern Plains pieces in existence. They were collected by Dr. Nathan Sturges Jarvis, a military surgeon stationed at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, between 1833 and 1836. Most items were made by the Eastern and Middle Dakota (Sioux) or by the peoples of the Red River region, including the Red River Métis, Anishinabe, Plains Cree, and Salteaux. Some of the objects were purchased by Jarvis, and others may have been given to him in exchange for his medical services.
By the early nineteenth century, the growing numbers of white settlers and military personnel—following decades of fur trading—had depleted much of the game on which the Dakota and Red River peoples depended. Indigenous ingenuity in combining trade materials such as cloth, metal, and glass beads with traditional hides, pipestone, and porcupine and bird quills is evident in these objects.
- Maker/Artist
- Sioux
- Classification
- Arms and Armor
- Formatted Medium
- Hide, metal, wood, porcupine quills, brass, skin, cloth, tin, sinew
- Locations
- Place collected: Fort Snelling, Minnesota, United States
- Dimensions
- knife: 10 3/8 x 1 1/8 in. (26.4 x 2.9 cm) sheath: 8 3/4 x 2 1/2 in. (22.2 x 6.4 cm)
- Departments
- Arts of the Americas
- Accession Number
- 50.67.118a-b
- Credit Line
- Henry L. Batterman Fund and the Frank Sherman Benson Fund
- Rights Statement
- Creative Commons-BY
- Museum Location
- This item is not on view
Have a concern, a correction, or something to add?
