Springtime in n'Daki Menan, the Homeland of the Teme-Augama Anishnabai: Babies, Cradleboards and Community Wrapping

This is a study of how the tikinaagan (cradleboard) as an object related to pre-colonial Indigenous childcare can be metaphorically investigated as a model for traditional social frameworks that illustrate the central place and role of babies and young people within Anishinaabe families and communit...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Nahwegahbow, Alexandra Kahsenniio
Format: Thesis
Language:unknown
Published: 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://curve.carleton.ca/ed2392f3-75b2-4d41-acb7-f1377f9ef897
http://catalogue.library.carleton.ca/record=b3614146
https://doi.org/10.22215/etd/2013-10668
Description
Summary:This is a study of how the tikinaagan (cradleboard) as an object related to pre-colonial Indigenous childcare can be metaphorically investigated as a model for traditional social frameworks that illustrate the central place and role of babies and young people within Anishinaabe families and communities. Through this, I approach the ornamentation and arrangement of a small cradleboard collected by Frank Speck in the early-twentieth century during his visit to the territory of n'Daki Menan in northeastern Ontario. By exploring the historical context in which this cradleboard was created, used, and collected I address the gaps in the early literature where the Indigenous voice and value placed on these objects were disregarded or overlooked. I argue that cradleboards, through their stylistic design and contextual power, have the ability to communicate traditional knowledge and values of parenting, family and community across generations to present day.