First Nations bracelet from the northwest coast of British Columbia collected by George Mercer Dawson in the 1800s - Paperback

by Peter Geldart (Author)

In this booklet I present the details and context of a gold bracelet collected from the British Columbia coastal area probably in the 1870s by George Mercer Dawson, Canadian geologist and ethnographer. This booklet is intended to assist those who wish to determine the artist, when it was crafted, and the value.

To be clear, I have done this research using published resources; I have not visited museums per se.

I have focused on a particular gold bracelet collected by George M. Dawson (1849-1901). In 1878 he surveyed the Queen Charlotte Islands, (Haida Gwaii) British Columbia, for the Geological Survey of Canada. His mission was to conduct a topographical, geological and resource survey, which he reported on. He was interested in the ethnographic study of the "vanishing" Native community, culture and language, and published important works in this area.

I have compared the "GMD" bracelet to works crafted by northwest coast artists of the time Charles Edenshaw (c. 1839-1920), Duncan Ginaawaan (c. 1830-1876), and "unknown" persons. This bracelet seems to have only traditional Native motifs, with no obvious Euro-colonial design. It may have been made for use within the Native community.