The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 21, 2025
Plate 625: Moss for the Baby Bags-Cree
1926
(American, 1868–1952)
Overall: 43.2 x 35.6 cm (17 x 14 in.)
Gift of Dr. Terence and Joyce Isakov 2022.296
Location: Not on view
Did You Know?
Until they could walk, Cree infants were swaddled in leather bags lined with dried moss.Description
The Cree, eight groups of Indigenous peoples in Canada and the United States, gathered moss, using it in herbal medicine, during menstruation, in the construction of roundhouses, and for childcare. Edward S. Curtis wrote, “in moist localities of the northern bush country the ground is thickly carpeted with Sphagnum. The moss is dried on racks, and is used as an absorbent in the tightly laced bags of infants.”- ?-2022Dr. Terence D. Isakov and Joyce Isakov, Moreland Hills, OH, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OHDecember 5, 2022-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- {{cite web|title=Plate 625: Moss for the Baby Bags-Cree|url=false|author=Edward S. Curtis|year=1926|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2022.296