Native American birch bark purse embellished with dyed moose hair in a floral leaf pattern. According to Carol Conn of Connecticut Country Antiques, before the arrival of the Europeans, members of the Iroquois nation (six tribes, Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga and Tuscarora) were skilled at moosehair embroidery on birchbark. By the middle of the 18th century, the British were actively seeking “Indian curios” and the Iroquois started making items to sell in order to help them support their families. Made from around 1700 until the 1880s. The moose hair comes from the mane of the moose. For more information see americannativearts.com