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Source Description

The ball at the striking end of this club is clenched in an abstract, jawlike form that likely refers to a protector animal who endowed the owner with power. Incised on the shaft is a rich record of <em>doodemag </em>(singular, <em>doodem,</em> “totem”)—animals representing other-than-human progenitors from which Anishinaabe peoples trace their descent. (The Anishinaabeg, a group of related Great Lakes nations, include the Odawa, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and others.) Included is an antlered creature, perhaps a caribou, along with mammals, birds, and powerful spirit beings: the thunderbird, its wings outstretched, and perhaps the long-tailed underwater panther. When this example was made, clubs had become symbols of status and earlier ways of life, having been replaced as favored weapons by metal tomahawks and European firearms. Today, clubs are part of powwow regalia.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
155915
label
Ball-Headed War Club
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
155915
contentType
object
title
Ball-Headed War Club
description
The ball at the striking end of this club is clenched in an abstract, jawlike form that likely refers to a protector animal who endowed the owner with power. Incised on the shaft is a rich record of <em>doodemag </em>(singular, <em>doodem,</em> “totem”)—animals representing other-than-human progenitors from which Anishinaabe peoples trace their descent. (The Anishinaabeg, a group of related Great Lakes nations, include the Odawa, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and others.) Included is an antlered creature, perhaps a caribou, along with mammals, birds, and powerful spirit beings: the thunderbird, its wings outstretched, and perhaps the long-tailed underwater panther. When this example was made, clubs had become symbols of status and earlier ways of life, having been replaced as favored weapons by metal tomahawks and European firearms. Today, clubs are part of powwow regalia.
date
late 1700s–early 1800s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60759908
genreSpecific
Tools and Equipment
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 58.6 x 7.8 x 13.1 cm (23 1/16 x 3 1/16 x 5 3/16 in.)
cul
Native North America, Northeastern Woodlands, Great Lakes, Anishinaabe
accession
1991.21
Source extras
tec
wood (maple?)
tombstone
Ball-Headed War Club, late 1700s–early 1800s. Native North America, Northeastern Woodlands, Great Lakes, Anishinaabe. Wood (maple?); overall: 58.6 x 7.8 x 13.1 cm (23 1/16 x 3 1/16 x 5 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund, 1991.21
collection
AA - Native North America
citations
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 342
creditline
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:06:43.132000
sourceId
155915
dept
Art of the Americas
coll
AA - Native North America
med
wood (maple?)
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
acc48ac43daef9aa