Robes of Power: Totem Poles on Cloth

Edith Fowke is a professor emeritus at York University and author of the
recently published Canadian Folklore: Perspectives on Canadian Culture.

Doreen Jensen, a Gitksan artist, and Polly Sargent, a senior researcher for the Books Builders of K’san, have combined their talents to produce an unusually informative and attractive book that originally served as accompaniment to the “Robes of Power” exhibition that toured six Australian cities before coming to the UBC Museum of Anthropology in 1986.

The button blanket, part of the traditional culture of the Northwest Coast Indians, has been called “a sister of the totem pole,” and like the pole proclaims hereditary rights, obligations, and power. Where countless books and articles have described and analyzed the totem poles, this is the first major publication to focus on the button blankets.

In addition to the many elaborate illustrations in both black and white and color, the book includes interviews with representatives of six of the seven major Northwest Coast Indian groups who give their impressions and recollections of the historical and contemporary role of the blanket robes.

Before Europeans introduced manufactured cloth to the coast in the 1700s the robes were made from animal skins and furs or woven from mountain goat wool or cedar bark fibres. In the 19th century, imported blankets were adapted to traditional forms by adding pearl buttons and abalone shell to outline figures based on family and clan histories. The button blankets, typically made from dark blue wool with red flannel applique and pearl white buttons, became increasingly popular during this time among all the coastal tribes except the Salish.

This is undoubtedly a valuable contribution to the history of Indian culture and art. It provides a wealth of information which will give a solid basis for future studies. I found the arrangement of the many first-person accounts somewhat repetitive and confusing, but with a subject where information will become increasingly difficult to obtain, it was probably wise to record as much as was available.