The ability to run fast over great distances was important among the Iroquoian peoples, and remains a valued tradition today. Runners carrying messages of war or peace could traverse with remarkable speed the forest trails of what is now New York State and southwestern Ontario. Pride in this vital skill may explain why moccasins were among the most highly decorated articles of Iroquoian clothing. Moccasin-makers drew their inspiration from a rich treasury of traditional motifs and cosmological symbols. Cosmic motifs may also be present in these Seneca moccasins. Here, the double- and single-curve motifs above zigzagging bands suggest the Celestial Tree, which was connected with the creation of the Earth. After the Europeans arrived, beads replaced the traditional porcupine quills and moose hair as decorative materials. However, the basic structure of the moccasin did not change. Made from a single piece of tanned, smoked hide, with the heel seam sewn and the toe seam notched and gathered, the Iroquois moccasin aptly served the fleetest of long-distance runners. (Seneca, Iroquois)

The man who wore this painted caribou-skin coat may have done so to propitiate and honour the spirit of the caribou he sought to kill. He was a Naskapi Indian, whose people lived in northeastern Quebec and Labrador. They were semi-nomadic hunters, dependent particularly on caribou for food and for the raw materials needed to make clothing, tools and weapons. This summer coat is an unusually fine example of the Naskapi decorative tradition. Its elaborate designs were probably painted with imported pigments of vermilion and washing blue and with fish roe, which yellows with age. Before the arrival of Europeans, paints were made from plants and from natural deposits of red and yellow ochre. Such coats became popular trade items. This one was collected in the early nineteenth century by Sir Gordon Drummond, a British officer and administrator of Upper and Lower Canada for a few years after the War of 1812. (Naskapi)

The native inhabitants of Canada's eastern subarctic woodlands – the Northern Ojibwa and Cree Indians – traditionally wore garments of animal skin decorated with porcupine quills, paint and fringes. They dressed their hair with ochre, grease and feathers, painted and tattooed their faces, and suspended ornaments of bead, shell and bone about their bodies. The garter and knife sheath shown here were part of this distinctive complex of native dress and adornment. They are fine examples of early artistic traditions and of the technical skills of the women who made them. The presence of imported materials – iron, trade cloth and glass beads – on otherwise traditional items suggests that these pieces were made soon after contact with Europeans, possibly during the late eighteenth century. Traditional eastern subarctic styles of clothing and adornment changed rapidly following exposure to European goods, technologies and fashions. Artifacts such as these are rare and irreplaceable souvenirs of a rich and complex aboriginal culture. (Swampy Cree)

Spinning tops is an ancient game played around the world. This one inch top was made from part of a spool for thread, with the peg inserted into circular hole at the top. (Naskapi)

This Sun Dance wand is a reproduction of the original which is in the Cranbrook Institute in Michigan. It was made by Hadjégrenta, Gray Flying Cloud. The original Sundisc, collected in 1932, from a Long House at Sour Springs. It is most likely made of pine, the red face of the sun painted on both sides of the head. Hawk feathers are inserted into the holes along the circumference of the head. (Gwe-u'-gweh-o-no', Cayuga)