A Cree or Cree-Metis quilled shot pouch with a cottom strap attached at the top for carrying. The front is made up of two panels of porcupine quills, with a white ground and blue and red quill geometric shapes sewn onto a dark blue cloth background. Below each panel are fringe loops dyed in blue, white, and red stripes. These pouches were used to store a variety of items, from medicine, shot, flints, and tobacco. A man may have more than one of these ornate pouches, which have also been called ‘firebags’ – reflecting their varied use. The oldest versions of these bags were regarded as prized possessions and deemed sacred, but from the 19th century were worn with pride as a symbols of tribal affiliation. This one is an early design, as it is a geometric pattern using quill and paints – the later 19th century saw the greater use of elaborate floral designs.

This one of a number of Cree/Cree-Metis objects brought back by Admiral Sir George Back (1796-1878) from Canada during one of the three overland expeditions that he participated in or, in the case of the 1833-1835 expedition, led. However, we do not know from which the shot pouch was acquired. In his account of the 1833-35 expedition he describes the contents of his tent: '...whilst the different corners of the tent were occupied by washing apparatus, a gun, Indian shot pouch, bags, basins, and an unhappy-looking japanned pot...' [Back, 'Narrative of the Arctic land expedition to the mouth of the Great Fish River, and along the shores of the Arctic Ocean in the years 1833, 1834, and 1835', page 62].