# Button blanket

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{{Short description|Wool blanket embellished with mother-of-pearl buttons}}

[[File:Button Blanket MET DT261799.jpg|thumb|Button blanket circa 1880 in the collection of the [Metropolitan Museum of Art](/source/Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art)]]

[[File:Button blanket in Juneau.jpg|thumb|Contemporary button blanket shown by its maker at the [Goldbelt Tram](/source/Goldbelt_Tram) in [Juneau, Alaska](/source/Juneau%2C_Alaska)]]

A '''button blanket''' is wool blanket embellished with [mother-of-pearl](/source/mother-of-pearl) buttons, created by [Northwest Coastal tribes](/source/Northwest_Coast_cultures), that is worn for ceremonial purposes. The blankets are used as [cape](/source/cape)s and gifts at ceremonial dances and [potlatch](/source/potlatch)es, and not used for sleeping.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.shannonthunderbird.com/Pacific%20Northwest%20Coast.htm |title=The Tsimshian<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-05-06 |archive-date=2007-05-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070530062600/http://www.shannonthunderbird.com/Pacific%20Northwest%20Coast.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The blankets usually have a red border on the upper and lateral edges. A central crest figure is created from the buttons and red flannel [appliqué](/source/appliqu%C3%A9). Button blankets are worn over the shoulders and the crest design hangs on the back of the wearer.<ref name="w114">Wade, 114</ref>

"Ceremonial robes and their associated regalia are generationally significant for being the insignias of family, clan histories, duties, rights, and privileges. have been among the most spectacular creations of the Indian people of the Northwest Coast of North America. For generations, these robes have served as insignia of family and clan histories, duties, rights, and privileges. They serve as statements of Indigenous identity especially in contemporary Canadian society.<ref>Jensen, Doreen and Polly Sargent. Robes of Power: Totem Poles on Cloth. University of British Columbia Press. Vancouver. 1986. {{ISBN|0-7748-0264-2}} </ref>

The blankets were originally acquired from the [Hudson's Bay Company](/source/Hudson's_Bay_Company) traders during the mid-19th century.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ammsa.com/achieve/AA99-D.Grant.html |title=Windspeaker profiles of outstanding Aboriginal people |access-date=2007-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006175330/http://www.ammsa.com/achieve/AA99-D.Grant.html |archive-date=2007-10-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The trade blankets were typically dark blue [duffel](/source/duffel) and decorated with buttons made from [abalone](/source/abalone) or [dentalium](/source/dentalium_(anthropology)) shells.<ref>[http://www.civilization.ca/tresors/treasure/232eng.html Civilization.ca - Treasures Gallery - Button blankets]</ref> The central crest typically portrayed a symbol of the wearer's family heritage.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.warmuseum.ca/aborig/grand/ghhi2eng.html |title=Civilization.ca - Grand Hall - Haida house (interior) |access-date=2007-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051127194424/http://warmuseum.ca/aborig/grand/ghhi2eng.html |archive-date=2005-11-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Among the people who make button blankets, the blankets are not hung from walls except at funerals or near the graves of chiefs.<ref name=w114/> 

[Haida](/source/Haida_people) artist [Florence Davidson](/source/Florence_Davidson) (1896–1993) was known for her button blankets.

In 2015, law student Christina Gray of the [Lax Kw'alaams](/source/Lax_Kw'alaams) [Tsimshian](/source/Tsimshian) nation formally obtained the right to wear a button blanket and cedar hat with her barrister's robes during the ceremony in which she was called to the bar in Ontario. She cited the use of the button blanket as a symbol of her nation's legal traditions.<ref>{{cite news|first=Simona|last=Chiose|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/law-student-plans-to-wrap-herself-in-first-nations-heritage-at-graduation/article25051736/|title=Law student plans to wrap herself in First Nations heritage at graduation|work=The Globe and Mail|date=June 21, 2015}}</ref>

==See also==
*[Alaska Native art](/source/Alaska_Native_art)
*[Chilkat weaving](/source/Chilkat_weaving)
*[Native American art](/source/Native_American_art)
*[Northwest Coast art](/source/Northwest_Coast_art)
*[Hudson's Bay point blanket](/source/Hudson's_Bay_point_blanket)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Jensen, Doreen and Polly Sargent. ''Robes of Power: Totem Poles on Cloth.'' University of British Columbia Press. Vancouver. 1986. {{ISBN|0-7748-0264-2}}
* Wade, Edwin L. ''The Arts of the North American Indian: Native Traditions in Evolution''. Manchester, VT: Hudson Hills, 1986. {{ISBN|978-0-933920-55-2}}.

Category:Blankets
Category:Alaska Native culture
Category:Indigenous textile art of the Americas
Category:Native American clothing
Category:Pacific Northwest art
Category:Buttons
Category:Seashells in art
Category:Ceremonial clothing

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Button blanket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Button_blanket) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Button_blanket?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.