ETHNOGRAPHY : NORTH AMERICA

Object Name

Cradleboard

Description

Strongly made baby carrier. The frame is made from a Y-shaped branch and strengthened by cross-tied wooden splints, all dyed red. The webbing is made from Tule grass, tied at top and bottom. When a Native American baby was born, it was carried round on its mother’s back in a baby carrier. Different types of baby carrier were used by different tribal groups. In California, babies were bound on to a cradleboard with cloth or skin bindings. The Y-shaped frame was designed to stick in the ground, so that the child could be propped up close to where its mother was digging for roots to make baskets. Yokut tribe, California, c. 1898

Materials

branch : grass

Place Collected

United States of America: California
California

Catalogue Number

BELUM.C62.1946

Copyright

National Museums NI