Skip to main content
Collections Menu

Mitten

Gallery Location
Daphne Cockwell Gallery dedicated to First Peoples art & culture
Maker
Northern Ojibway
Medium Depilated moose skin, wool yarn
Geography
Weagamow Lake, Ontario, Canada
Date 1950s
Dimensions 34 x 21 x 2.5 cm
Object number 959.50.132.B
Description
Moose skin is the most durable material for the manufacture of mittens and moccasins. The labourious preparation of the skin involves removing the hair and flesh, scraping the skin to an even thickness, soaking in water, rubbing in a mixture of brains and fish livers, beating and scraping to make the fibres pliable, and finally smoking the skin. Six to eight pairs of mittens can be made from a single moose skin.
If you see an error or have additional information, please contact us.