Body Armor, Greave (leg armor) Item Number: E74438-0 from the National Museum of Natural History

Notes

From card: "Greave - Made up of 12 slightly tapering hard wood slats and 8 rods woven together with twisted sinew cord. The weaving is diversified in the central portion by carrying the threads in pairs alternately over the rods. The portion not covered with weaving bears a totemic painting. When the greave is curved around the calf of the leg, the hollowed out portions, which are also beveled, accommodate the instep and knee joint. Tied at the front with thongs. The holes along the upper edge are probably for attaching the greave to the armor for the upper leg. Length, 15 inches; width of upper edge, 17 1/2 inches; width of lower edge, 16 1/2 inches. Tlingit Indians, Sitka, Alaska. Illus. in USNM AR, 1893; Pl. 10; p. 638. Illus.: Hndbk. N. Amer. Ind., Vol. 7, Northwest Coast, Fig. 13 bottom left, pg. 218."