Jacket found in Britain may have originated with indigenous Manitobans 170 years ago – Winnipeg | globalnews.ca

A rare article of clothing that found its way to a vintage clothing business in England may have Manitoba roots dating back more than 170 years.

The jacket – which is believed to have been made by indigenous peoples on the Canadian Prairie around the 1850s – ended up at Glass Onion, a vintage clothing wholesaler and retailer in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, as part of a shipment from the US Happened.

The Glass Onion’s head of marketing, Alice Leadbetter, told 680 CJOB that her company processes 20,000 kilograms of old clothing a week, with regular truckloads of old clothing from across Europe and the US.

Leadbetter said the jacket was found in a bundle of clothing, mixed in with countless other fringed suede pieces, and it immediately stood out.

“We’ve been in the business for 15 or so years and we’ve never seen anything like this. We get a lot of vintage clothes and a lot of gems, but this one was really extra special. Very rarely do we find an object of such age and historical and cultural importance.

“Luckily our team are vintage experts and they saw right away that this story had an amazing story to tell so we made sure to put it in a safe place and store it… and that’s when we went down began the research process of trying to figure out what the history of this amazing object might be.

The ultimate goal, she said, is to reconnect it with its original community.

Leadbetter said the jacket featured intricate beading on the front and shoulder areas, as well as fringing details that were created with dyed porcupine quills. She said it is surprising that the jacket is in such good condition, given its long history and likely having been moved several times during its travels around the world.

To trace the jacket’s roots, Leadbetter said she took a chance and shared a few videos on TikTok, only to receive an overwhelming response from indigenous social media users.

“We specialize in vintage clothing, but we are not experienced in native clothing, which is why I uploaded the videos on TikTok… to see if there is anyone out there who would be able to point us in the right direction or identify it. Maybe,” she said.

“I woke up the next day, it’s got five million views, thousands of comments – the native TikTok really came through.”

Thanks to all that social media help, Leadbetter got recommendations from museums, university professors and others in Canada and elsewhere to help her narrow down the jacket’s origins—which led her to Manitoba.

“We now believe the jacket is either Métis or Cree, most likely from western Canada – Manitoba, or perhaps the Alberta or Saskatchewan regions,” she said.

“Now I’m trying to narrow it down even further by getting in touch with someone who might specialize in Metis dress or Cree dress. That would be amazing, because I think it’s the finer details now that should give us more of this.” will also help reduce it.

“We’re still learning, and we really appreciate all the help and kindness people have shown to help us get to the bottom of this.”

Anyone with information that might help achieve that goal is asked to contact Leadbetter Glass Onion Website,

0:46
City and Treaty One First Nations sign historic agreement

&copy 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.