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Native American
Native American - Northeast and Southeast Woodland ➔ Birchbark Box

Identifier:

203681

Description:

This round, lidded birchbark box has a flower in the center of the lid partially embroidered in a tufted technique with green and white porcupine quills. Green and white quills also adorn the sides of the box. The box is bound around the rims with sweetgrass. It was made by a Chippewa artist, possibly on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, Canada.

Date:

1951 – 1975

Materials:

Birchbark, Sweetgrass, Porcupine Quills

Current Location Status:

In Storage

Collection Tier:

Tier 2

Source:

Gift of the Estate of Ruth Herrick

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Exhibits/Programs:

Anishinabek: The People of this Place (1995 – 2025)

Anishinaabek: The Original People of This Place (after 2026)

Redesign of the Anishinabek: The People of this Place exhibit. Ideas for potential artifacts.

Related Entities:

Chippewa (creator)
Alternate names: Ojibway, Ojibwe, Saulteaux Estate of Dr. Ruth Herrick (donor)
Born on July 6, 1895 in Ohio, Ruth Herrick became known as one of the first women physicians in Michigan. She studied at the University of Chicago Medical College and at Blodgett Memorial Hospital. Afterwards she began her practice in 1931 in Grand Rapids. She was an avid collector and took a strong interest in archaeology, having lectured at the Greenfield Village Museum and wrote and published a book entitled "Greentown glass: the Indiana Tumbler and Goblet Company and allied manufacturers (1959)". In 1961 she cooperated with the Kent County Medical Society in compiling a historic medical collection. She retired in 1973 and later passed away after an automobile accident on June 7, 1974, with many of her assets bequeathed to the Public Museum.