Early Blackfoot Beaded Knife Sheath with Knife

Blackfoot/Piegan

1870 or earlier | Commercial Hide, Glass Beads, Buffalo hide | Item 2528

This is an early and beautiful knife sheath with knife. The simplicity of the design and limited color palette make this a special find. The black and white beads create the face of the sheath, all on boot leather, or commercial hide. The sheath is lined with blue and greasy yellow along the fringed edge. The fringe, as well as the belt loop, are buffalo hide. The knife is hand forged steel. The handle is commercial hide wrapped around and sewn up with cordage. The knife is Northern Plains and dates to around the mid 19th century.

This sheath was discovered in a Museum in France:

The following is the description from the original museum in France:

Saxon-Sion

Musee Missionaire et Atcheologique

Basilique Nortre-Dame de Sion

54330 France

Tel: 83 25 12 22

Founded by the Nuns of Immaculate Mary, this museuem recounts the history of the order and reunites the ethnographic collections brought back by the missionaries. Among these are recently made objects from the Great Canadian North that combine native techniques with Western inspried designs. This collection, not entirely identified, would have been used by Indians from the most southern zones of Quebec.

Moccasins

Hide Knife Case

Bibliography:

Alix Claire and Olech Marina

Native American Collections in the French museums:

Objects from the Canadian Northeast

Inventory of the Musee de Bretagne, Rennes, 1996