A NEW TYPE OF CEREMONIAL BLANKET FROM THE NORTHWEST COAST

Abstract

THROUGH the generosity of Mr Lewis H. Farlow of and Pasadena, the Peabody Museum of Harvard University has recently acquired a remarkable Northwest Coast blanket. This was found in possession of a grandson of the collector by Dr L. C. Jones of Malden, Massachusetts, who called the writer's attention to this interesting textile. The blanket was obtained about the year I 8oo by Captain Benjamin Swift ( 1770-1857) of Charlestown, Massachusetts, who, in his younger days, was engaged in the Northwest fur trade. Like most ethnological specimens collected in that region by the early Boston traders there is no record of the exact locality where it was procured. It is very probable, however, that it came from the northern coast region of British Columbia. With the exception of the overcasting of fur at its upper edge the robe is made wholly of mountain goat wool. Unlike the Chilkat blanket no cedar bark was used in the warp. The colors are yellow, a brownish black, and the natural white of the wool. The color scheme is as follows : the outer band of the border is