Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1925

Date Range To

1935

Materials

LEATHER, PLASTIC BEADS

No. Pieces

2

Height

9.5

Length

27.4

Width

9.2

Description

PAIR BEADED MOCCASINS, HANDMADE, PARFLECHE SOLE, BROWN-TANNED LEATHER UPPERS. BLUE, SILVER, RED, GREEN, YELLOW PLASTIC BEADS, FLOWER PATTERN. BEADED TRIM AROUND ANKLE; TASSELS ON HEELS. SEE CONSERVATION REPORT.

Subjects

CLOTHING-FOOTWEAR

INDIGENOUS

Historical Association

PERSONAL CARE

ETHNOGRAPHIC

History

MADE FOR SAMUAL ALEXANDER BUCKLAND CRABB, DONOR'S FATHER. DONOR BELIEVES MADE ABOUT 1925-26 BY JOE HEALY'S WIFE AS A GIFT. CRABB CAME TO ALBERTA ABOUT 1901 & CAME TO KNOW HEALY WHEN HE WORKED WITH NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE LATER EMPLOYED BY GALT #6 MINE. HE WAS KILLED IN KERALTA EXPLOSION IN 1943. HIS ACQUAINTENCE WITH HEALY WAS RENEWED BY CHANCE, & MOCCASINS MADE AFTER HEALY NOTICED THAT CRABB ALWAYS REMOVED HIS BOOTS & WANDERED AROUND IN STOCKING FEET. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR FULL LETTER WRITTEN BY DONOR, NORMA B. CHARLES (CRABB). *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS, INCLUDING A PORTRAIT OF JOE HEALY, WHOSE WIFE PURPORTEDLY MADE THESE MOCCASINS. 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. 22 OCTOBER 2021 UPDATE: THE LABEL TEXT QUOTED BELOW WAS DEVELOPED WITH KAINAI ELDERS FOR A SUB-THEME WITHIN THE EXHIBIT ‘MADE IN’, TITLED ‘NIITSITAPISSKSAHKOYI’ AND INSTALLED WITHIN THE GALT IN 2021. ELDERS WHO PROVIDED MUSEUM CURATOR AIMEE BENOIT WITH DIRECTION ON SUBTHEME’S CONTENT INCLUDED: AAGOHH GISS STSISTIIGIIAAKII (MANY OFFERINGS WOMAN, GRETA MANY BEARS), GUUYII STAA BAAMUUGHKAA (WALKING ON TOP, RAYMOND MANY BEARS), NIINAA PIIKSII (CHIEF BIRD, MIKE BRUISED HEAD), MO’TOKAANII’PO (WALKING WITH A SCALP, HARRISON RED CROW) AND MIINIIPOKA (SACRED BERRY CHILD, PETER WEASEL MOCCASIN). THE GALT APPRECIATED THE GENEROSITY OF THE ELDERS WHO SHARED THEIR KNOWLEDGE FOR THIS EXHIBIT PROJECT. “NIITSITSIKINN (MOCCASINS): THESE WERE MADE BY NAATSIKAPOINAAMAYAAKII (DOUBLE GUN WOMAN, WIFE OF POTAI’NA/JOE HEALY) FOR ROYAL NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE OFFICER SAMUEL ALEXANDER BUCKLAND CRABB. ‘THESE ARE MRS. HEALY’S; I RECOGNIZE THE DESIGN. SOME FAMILIES TEND TO KEEP A CERTAIN DESIGN. THIS LOOKS VERY FAMILIAL, LIKE OTHER PIECES THAT SHE’S DONE. THEY’RE VERY NICE.’ – MO’TOKAANII’PO ‘A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK BLACKFOOT PEOPLE JUST HAD GEOMETRICAL DESIGNS. BUT WE HAD SOME FLOWER DESIGNS. MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER ACTUALLY HAD A FLOWER ON HER BEADWORK; WE HAD THAT KIND OF BEADWORK DESIGN TOO.’ – NIINAA PIIKSII”

Catalogue Number

P19890047000

Acquisition Date

1989-11

Collection

Museum

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