Producer unknown to us
A pair of moccasins
Americas, Canada, Quebec or Newfoundland/Labrador
Mid-20th century
Leather, beadwork
Eva Lips (Ethnologist) acquired this headband between 1934 and 1959
Purchased by the Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden from Elisabeth Malüg on December 6, 1989
70058
This pair of light-colored, soft-tanned leather moccasins is from the Innu community. The leather is folded over at the instep, and the inlet by the instep is pleated. The beaded floral motifs embroidered on the instep are commonly found in the (North)Eastern Woodlands and around the Great Lakes.
This item may have been collected during Julius and Eva Lips’ exile (1935–1947), or during Eva Lips’ research trip in 1959. Her trip to Canada in 1959 was one of the scarce opportunities to do field research in Western countries at the time – and it was easier to obtain a travel permit at the time than after the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. The ethnographic objects collected on this trip thus present a rarity in the museum’s collection history during the GDR.
Frank Usbeck