Button Blankets

displaying T´łakwa (coppers)

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Button blanket with red frame on top and sides, green centers square with tree of life pattern and decoration.

Button-blanket with Tree-of‐Life crest.

Can you see the coppers design on this blanket?

Black and white photograph shows about 16 coppers stacked on a bench shot against white background.

Coppers surrendered under duress after Dan Cranmer potlatch; on display at the Parish Hall in Alert Bay, 1922

Photo: Royal BC Museum, PN 12194

About 20 people gather at the U'mista Cultural Society, wearing decorated button blankets, many with ermine trim headdresses.

Crowd at grand opening of U’mista in 1980

This photograph shows many Kwakwaka’wakw hereditary chiefs and elders at the grand opening of the U’mista Cultural Centre. There are five button blankets in this photograph that display the copper shield on the red border. There are also two tunics worn by chiefs which display the copper shield.

Photo: Vickie Jensen, UPN‐O1493

Lesson 3