Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID # |
1961.027.026 |
Object Name |
Embroidery |
Title |
Unfinished Royal Garter Beaded Needlework (pre-1865) |
Lexicon category |
8: Communication Artifact |
Date |
pre-1865 |
Year Range from |
1860 |
Year Range to |
1865 |
Artist |
Mrs. William Sutton |
Made |
Sutton (neé Sunego), Catharine Brown? |
Place of Origin |
Sarawak Twp., Grey County |
Description |
Unfinished Royal Garter beaded needlework piece, pre-1865. It is on a textile ground which is mostly blank. The garter (belt-like) motif is thickly beaded, with clear / white opaque / translucent green and gold and metallic brass-coloured beads. The design has a garter motif joined together with a banner strung through it that has the Prince of Wales motto "Hony [Honi] soit que mal y pense" (Evil to him who thinks evil). The garter area has the wording "Dieu et mon droit" (God and my right). The edges of the ground are roughly finished with diagonal stitches (a way to keep the edges from unravelling as one worked the piece.) This item matches 1961.027.027. |
Makers mark |
None |
Provenance |
This incomplete item of beadwork was likely worked by Mrs. William Sutton (nee Catharine Brown Sunego, Nahneebahweequay, born c. 1824) when she lived in Sarawak Township, Grey County. Perhaps it was intended to be a gift for the British Royal family, as it incorporates the garter motif of the Prince of Wales? Mrs. Sutton visited England in 1860 to achieve an audience with Queen Victoria about aboriginal concerns in Canada West. Mrs. Sutton had been elected by her people at a Council held at Rama to be their spokesperson. Reportedly she took gifts along to present to the Queen, but we do not know exactly what they were. After her audience, with the Queen Mrs. Sutton gave birth to one of her sons in Stoke-Newington and they travelled back to Sarawak Township later that year. Mrs. Sutton died in September of 1865. Catharine Sutton was an Ojibwa (Anishnaabe) woman who married an Englishman, William Sutton, in 1839, at the Credit River Mission (a Wesleyan Methodist mission that was assisting Ojibwa families). The Suttons had moved their family from the Credit River area to what would later be known as Grey County in the mid 1840s, in order to assist the Newash Ojibwa band with missionary work. The Newash Band gave Mrs. Sutton and her heirs a quantity of land in what later became Sarawak Township, Canada West. When an 1857 land treaty with the Crown occurred, Mrs. Sutton was in jeopardy of losing her land, as she could not legally obtain title, as she was an "Indian", and could not even purchase it at auction. This injustice, and others, led her to becoming a spokesperson for her people. She was elected by the Council at Rama to be their envoy to England in order to speak to Queen Victoria about the unfair situation for aboriginal people in Canada West. Mrs. Sutton was of the Eagle Totem and was born c. 1824 and raised at the Credit Indian Mission (near the Credit River near Lake Ontario). Her name "Nahneebahweequay" meant "Upright Woman" or "black squirrel". Mrs. Sutton died in September of 1865, at her log home in Sarawak Township, Grey County. She and Mr. Sutton still had young children to raise when she died. Her mother assisted Mr. Sutton after she passed away, as did Miss Catherine Sutton, the older daughter. The item was passed down in the family, eventually belonging to Mrs. Catherine Morgan (neé Staves) of Brantford, Ontario, who was a grand-daughter of Catharine and William Sutton. Catherine Staves was married to Reverend Alfred Morgan. Alfred Morgan was the last owner of this item. Catherine Staves and Alfred Morgan were married at Toronto on August 14, 1906. Catherine Staves was the daughter of Joseph Staves (a cooper), and Sophia Staves (neé Sutton). Sophia Staves had died of consumption in Sarawak Township on May 17, 1875, and Mr. William Sutton raised his grandchildren, Catherine Staves (b. 18__) and her brother, William Percy Staves (b. April 10, 1875) in Sarawak Township. The item was eventually passed down to her grand-daughter, Mrs. Alfred Morgan (Catherine Morgan) of Brantford, Ontario. |
Collection |
First Nations, Sutton Collection |
Material |
Textile/Bead, Glass/Thread |
Dimensions |
W-20.2 L-24.2 cm |
Found |
Brantford, Ontario |
People |
Sutton, Catharine |
Subjects |
Royalty |