Producer unknown to us
Birch bark container (makuk)
Americas, Canada, Quebec, Mashteuiatsh Reserve
1959
Piece of American canoe birch bark (Betula papyfera), scraped pattern
Eva Lips (ethnologist) acquired the item on a research trip to Canada 1959
Purchased by the museum from Elisabeth Malüg in 1990
NAm 4980 a, b
The body of this birch bark container (makuk) with a lid is carved from a piece of bark of the American canoe birch. It is cut and folded with the white outer layer turned inward in order to reveal the smooth brown inner layer. A knotted leather strap is used to hang the makuk.
Eva Lips’ trip to Canada in 1959 was one of the few research trips to Western countries that GDR ethnologists were allowed to take at the time. The ethnographic objects collected on this trip thus present a rarity in the museum’s collection history during the GDR.
Frank Usbeck