Knife

A particular style of quilled knife sheath that some call a 'slat case'. Slat refers to bark slats that are quill wrapped, and then applied to hide.

The donor said the objects in his donation should be known as the Hillyard Mitchell collection. Mitchell (1852-1923) spent much of his working life in the Northwest Territories, later moving to Victoria, B.C. The donor also said the collection came from his grandfather, F. Carson, who had gone to Saskatchewan in 1861 as a boy of 15, and stayed until 1918. He was a fur trader and trapper, working mainly amongst the Cree, and was recorded having been at Duck Lake and Prince Albert, Sask. It is uncertain which objects were collected by Mitchell vs collected by F. Carson.

Slender knife with decorative quillwork handle and sheath. The sheath has two strips of quills along the length - red, yellow, green, yellow and red with white diamonds. The knife handle has quills around its circumference for the entire length. There are six rawhide tassels with quills wound around them and animal hair at their ends, at the end of the handle. The sheath is sewn together; the design is overlaid and sewn.