fingerwoven straps

I am currently engaged in a disagreement.

A friend claims that a voyageur would have his indian wife fingerweave him a sash, garters, and straps for his bags and such, all at the same time SO that they all match. :bull:

I told him that he has been sitting too close to the fire, and that it was very highly unlikely that his better half would do them all the same, at the same time without going postal and killing the entire village. It also seems a bit too coordinated when he wears his gear, like a fashion show.

What do you think?



Damascus

I think I agree with you, what are the odds of finding enough of the EXACTLY MATCHING fabric/thread in a frontier/voyage situation? That in it's self would be a small miracle. You're handmande gear would probably be made out of scraps from other projects. :imo: :m2c:

Voyageurs with Native wives were lucky in that these women would be capable of producing finger woven material or he could have traded for sashes,garters,bags and the like.But having said that you would NOT see matching sashes and garters. In fact you might even see Natives wearing mismatched wool leggings.There is a well known painting Ca.1815 by Rindisbacher showing a group of Ojibwa Indians saying goodbye to a British officer,Bou'jou Neejee P.191 and at least three are wearing leggings with contrasting colors.I don't know what colors because the picture is B/W.Wearing matching sash and garters betrays the fact that the wearer is either very new,hasn't done the research or doesn't care.I say this despite the horde of vendors who push matched sets of sashes and garters usually machine loomed which are not 100% wool.
Bring out the Spanish Inquisition.
Tom Patton

Frankly from what I have read about this---if the wife were a native---each tribe would have there own "pattern" for these finger woven articles. IMHO it certainly would be possible to find all the woven gee-gaws with the same pattern. There wasn't any TV in them thar days, so long cold winter days and nights would stimulate the need for some diversion. My first attempt, required a couple of shots of Jameson's 25 yr. old to calm me down---but, when the technique becomes natural muscle memory---it goes surprisingly fast. Myself I would get bored with the same pattern year after year, but amazingly when you go to a new pattern---it's start from square one again, only you learn faster. Try it, you may like it, it's easier than beading or quill work. :imo:

I suppose I could see the very rare case of a voyageur having the same woven colors and pattern of garters and sash, but very rare would the case be indeed. I would think that they would wear out / get lost / break infrequently and require replacing. A newlywed might perhaps get a set that she had made for her future beau, just a thought (I am not an authority on the wedding dreams and aspirations of the Ojibwe people.)

Sadly, as much as I want to weave my own sash/garters/straps, I do not have the time to devote to it, and will likely be patronizing the services of a good friend of mine for any future gear.


Damascus