Artifact Collection

Updated June 13, 2018

Accession Number Fonds Number Fonds Name Item Number Identification Number Item Name Dimensions Description
2014-20 AF001 Anne Klassen Wiens 1 AF001-01 Spear 178 cm long This item is a spear acquired by Anne Klassen.  It has a long wooden handle with a wedge-shaped end.  The long metal shaft has a sharp point at the tip. Metal and natural rope fibers wrapped around the spear holding the wood and metal together (see Profiles of Mennonite Faith, No. 57). The metal tip was likely made from the cast-off steel that was left behind by oil and gas explorations in the area. There is some evidence that one factor contributing to the hostility directed toward early missionaries was that they were associated with the oil and gas explorations that altered the traditional way of life of the indigenous peoples (see MH 35/3 [Sept. 2009]: 1–2 and Profiles of Mennonite Faith, No. 19).
2015-01 AF001 Anne Klassen Wiens 2 AF001-02 chest 58 cm (long) by 42 cm (wide) by 45 cm (high) This item is a [1940-] vintage “hope chest”(?) belonging to missionary Ann Klassen (1930–1988). The chest was made by Ann’s father (Johann P. Klassen). The contents were likely things she brought from Paraguay. See items listed in this collection.
2014-20 AF001 Anne Klassen Wiens 3 AF001-03 painting 29 cm by    39 cm This item is a painting done by William (Bill) P. Klassen of an aboriginal male. Bill was Ann’s uncle. The painting came to the archives along with her “Morro” spear. Inscribed on the back is “Ann Klassen 1965.”
2015-01 AF001 Anne Klassen Wiens 4 AF001-04 warrior-hunter headdress 30 cm by 23 cm round; worn as a band across the forehead This item is a headdress made of jaguar hide, parrot feathers, and falcon feathers. In correspondence with Paraguayan archivist Gundolf Niebuhr, CMBS archivist Conrad Stoesz learned that the Ayoreo held their warrior-hunters in high esteem. Only by killing a jaguar would an Ayoreo hunter earn the right to wear a headdress like this. In many native cultures, the wearing of animal skins or feathers was a way of transferring some of the attributes of the animal to the warrior-hunter (see MH 41/1 [March 2015]: 7).
2015-01 AF001 Anne Klassen Wiens 5 AF001-05 carving tool 24 cm long by 3 cm wide This item is a carving tool, likely made from the same cast off steel—left behind by oil and gas explorations in the area—that was used to fashion the sharp spear that came into Ann’s possession (see MH 41/1 [March 2015]: 7).
2015-01 AF001 Anne Klassen Wiens 6 AF001-06 feather necklace 35 cm long This item is a decorative necklace made of parrot feathers and natural rope fibers (see MH 41/1 [March 2015]: 7).
2015-01 AF001 Anne Klassen Wiens 7 AF001-07 necklaces of beads, feathers, and thorns These items (untagged) are various necklaces, some made of beads, others of feathers, and even thorns, each strung on a string made of natural rope fiber.
2015-01 AF001 Anne Klassen Wiens 8 AF001-08 wooden whistle 8cm by 5cm oval This item is a wooden whistle carved in the shape of a medallion and strung on natural fiber rope (necklace).
2015-01 AF001 Anne Klassen Wiens 9 AF001-09 cloth badge 8cm by 5cm diamond shaped This item is a cloth badge with three large letters (GHW) sewn on a white cloth fabric. Presumably, this is the crest of the Grace Hospital in Winnipeg and appears to be a badge that may have been stitched onto Ann’s dress or nursing uniform.
2015-01 AF001 Anne Klassen Wiens 10 AF001-10 shoulder bag 25 cm by 17 cm This item is a shoulder bag made of woven natural rope fibers dyed red and black with a shoulder strap made of the same material.
2017-03 AF001 Anne Klassen Wiens 11 AF001-11 vest 75 cm by 52 cm when laid flat This item is an adult-sized felt vest, green in colour, with aboriginal embroidery. It was acquired by Anne Klassen.
2018-07 AF002 Henry Neufeld 1 AF002-01 talking stick 32 cm by 2 cm This item is a hand-carved “talking stick” made of diamond willow and used by Indigenous peoples in Canada to facilitate respectful, impartial, and fair conversation. The holder of the stick has the right to speak, as it is passed in a circle from one participant to another. It was made by Henry Neufeld.