Object Record
Images
Additional Images [1]
Metadata
Object ID # |
1956.015.006 |
Object Name |
Club |
Title |
War Club |
Lexicon category |
5: T&E For Science & Technology |
Date |
19th-century? |
Made |
Unknown |
Place of Origin |
Grey County, Ontario? |
Description |
First Nations "war club" (wooden club). Primitive-looking, hewn wood. Wood type is undetermined. It is all wood, with no decoration. |
Provenance |
Unknown maker. George Holmes was born in Owen Sound, Canada West, in July of 1860. As a young man, he became a professional photographer. He also had an interest in collecting First Nations objects. It is not known if he was given this item, or found it, or where it originated from. He travelled during his photography career in Grey County and Bruce County. He died in 1932 at Owen Sound, Grey County. In the 1911 census of Owen Sound, Grey County, George Holmes was then 50 years old. He and his wife Mary were residing at 895 4th Avenue East at that time. Aubrey Holmes was the son of George Holmes & Mary (MacKey) Holmes. George Holmes (b. 1860) was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Holmes. George's mother died in 1865 from smallpox, when he was five years of age. The Holmes family was related to the Steadman family. The Holmes family were previously located in Puslinch Township before they came to Grey County. Robert Holmes owned a lime kiln at Holmes' Rock, along the Garafraxa Road (now 9th Avenue East near 6th St. East, Owen Sound). |
Collection |
First Nations, 19th-c Collection |
Material |
Wood/Stain/Lead |
Dimensions |
W-12 L-57 D-3.2 cm |
Found |
Unknown |
People |
Holmes, George Holmes, Aubrey |
Subjects |
Clubs First Nations of Central Canada |
Search Terms |
Ojibwa (Anishnaabe, Anishnibeg) |
Function |
Long ago, war clubs were used by First Nations men during conflicts, but in the 19th-century, you see them held in photographs as heirlooms and ceremonial objects. For example, see the 1850s image of former Newash men at Cape Croker (published at the front of E. Marsh's 1931 book about Grey County). |