Restoring provenance to a Native American feather blanket

Abstract

A technical examination of an unprovenanced feather blanket in the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum in California found turkey feathers, yucca fiber cordage, human hair, associated botanicals, and a documented twining technique indicating that the blanket likely derives from the prehistoric Southwest, possibly Basketmaker III–Pueblo I (ca. 700–950 AD), rather than from eighteenth to nineteenth century California as originally believed. Sources on excavated Southwest prehistoric fur and feather blankets, revival practices by contemporary Pueblo weavers, and physical examination of two historic California feather blankets indicate similarities and differences in materials and construction methods, and vastly different contemporary attitudes toward feather blankets in museums. This case study is an example of how conservation methods can be used in support of post-Colonial museum goals, benefiting traditional owners and indigenous communities. Reattribution from historic California to a Pueblo child burial in northern Arizona changes not only conservation treatment and display, but also the disposition of this object in the museum's collection.