Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1912

Date Range To

1915

Materials

BEAD, COTTON, VELVET

No. Pieces

1

Length

53.3

Width

45.7

Description

THE FRONT OF THE VEST IS BEADED, BACK IS BLACK VELVET. INSIDE LINED WITH BLACK & BEIGE STRIPED COTTON (BROWN WITH AGE). FRONT BEADED IN WHITE FOR BACKGROUND & FLOWERS ARE BEADED (2 FLOWERS ON EACH SIDE) IN BLUE, RED, BROWN, GREEN, PIN (SMALL GREEN DESIGN AT TOP). BACK IS BLACK VELVET WITH A FEW GOLD-BEADED STARS. SEE CONSERVATION REPORT.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

ETHNOGRAPHIC

History

ACQUIRED BY HERBERT HUSBAND ABOUT 1912 FROM JOE HEALY, A MEMBER OF THE BLOOD TRIBE, & FORMER SCOUT FOR THE NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE AFTER HUSBAND'S DEATH WIDOW PASSED ITEMS ON FOR MUSEUM COLLECTION. A.R. HUSBAND, ONLY SON TRAINED AT UNIV. OF ALBERTA AS A PHARMACIST & LATER BECAME A PHARMACIST IN LETHBRIDGE FAMILY GREW UP IN PINCHER CREEK. SEE MAGAZINE ARTICLE IN HARDCOPY FILE. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS, INCLUDING A PORTRAIT OF JOE HEALY, WHO WAS PURPORTEDLY THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF THIS VEST. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY ON JOE HEALY WAS DEVELOPED WITH INFORMATION FROM THE GALT ARCHIVES AND 'THE AMAZING DEATH OF CALFSHIRT: THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF BLACKFOOT HISTORY' BY HUGH DEMPSEY: POTAI'NA "FLYING CHIEF' JOE HEALY (LATER CALLED WOLF MOCCASIN) WAS BORN IN 1854 ON THE MONTANA BLACKFEET RESERVATION, TO THE LEADER OF THE BLOOD TRIBE, MANY BRAIDS. MANY BRAIDS HAD BECOME FRIENDLY WITH JOHN J. HEALY, CO-OPERATOR OF THE SUN RIVER CROSSING TRADING POST WITH ALFRED B. HAMILTON. DURING A ROUTINE VISIT TO THE TRADING POST, THE BLOODS' CAMP WAS RAIDED AT NIGHT BY A BAND OF PEND D'OREILLE WARRIORS. MANY BRAIDS, HIS WIFE, BABY AND TEENAGE DAUGHTER WERE KILLED IN THE CONFLICT, WHICH WAS WITNESSED BY JOHN HEALY. BEFORE HE DIED, MANY BRAIDS ASKED JOHN HEALY TO TAKE CARE OF HIS SON, FLYING CHIEF, THE ONLY SURVIVING MEMBER OF THE FAMILY. JOHN HEALY GAVE THE EIGHT YEAR OLD BOY THE NAME JOE HEALY, AND KEPT HIM AT THE TRADING POST UNTIL THE SUMMER, WHEN HE WAS ENROLLED IN THE SCHOOL AT NEARBY FORT SHAW. THERE JOE DEVELOPED HIS KNOWLEDGE OF ENGLISH. IN 1869, WHILE JOE WAS IN SCHOOL, HEALY AND HAMILTON WENT NORTH AND OPENED A TRADING POST AT THE CONFLUENCE OF THE OLDMAN AND ST. MARY RIVERS; THIS POST WOULD BECOME KNOWN AS FORT WHOOP-UP AND WAS INFAMOUS FOR ITS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WHISKEY TRADE AND VIOLENCE IN THE AREA UNTIL THE ARRIVAL OF THE NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE IN 1874. THREE YEARS LATER, DUE TO A DECLINE IN THE BUFFALO POPULATIONS AND THUS THE ROBE MARKET, HEALY CLOSED THE SUN RIVER CROSSING POST AND MOVED TO FORT BENTON. JOE WAS NOW SIXTEEN AND WAS COMPELLED TO RETURN TO HIS RELATIVES AMONG THE BLOODS. HE FOLLOWED THE LAST BUFFALO HERDS WITH BULL SHIELD, AND JOINED IN RELIGIOUS AND WARFARE ACTIVITIES OF THE TRIBE. WHEN THE BLOODS SETLLED ON THEIR RESERVE IN 1881, JOE WAS THE ONLY MEMBER OF THE TRIBE WHO WAS FLUENT IN BLACKFOOT AND ENGLISH. HE WAS AN OUTSPOKEN SUPPORTER OF RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS AND DEFIED ATTEMPTS BY THE GOVERNMENT TO SUPRESS DANCES AND FESTIVALS. HE MARRIED WIDE NOSTRILS, THE DAUGHTER OF IRON PIPE, AND THEY HAD SIX DAUGHTERS AND FOUR SONS. JOE WORKED AS AN OFFICIAL INTERPRETER FOR THE GOVERNMENT WHEN A NEW TREATY WAS MADE IN 1883, AND AS A SCOUT FOR THE RNWMP. IN LATER YEARS HE CO-ORDINATED FIRST NATIONS' PARTICIPATION IN THE LETHBRIDGE EXHIBITION AND STAMPEDE. JOE HEALY DIED AT ST. PAUL'S MISSION ON THE BLOOD RESERVE IN 1936 AS ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED PATRIARCHS OF THE BLOOD TRIBE.

Catalogue Number

P19780207000

Acquisition Date

1978-07

Collection

Museum

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