The object is a woven flat bag of woven grass with a drawstring around the top. The designs of wool and grass on each side of the bag are different. One side has a diagonal striped design while the other has fringed triangles and diamond shapes arranged in a vertical pattern. Basic materials for bags like this one were originally hemp or grass but when cotton became available through trade, weavers switched to cotton. Dyed cornhusks were sometimes used for the designs. The particular patterns on this bag appear to show the influence of Plains' parfleche patterns on Northwest Coast weavers. After Europeans introduced the horse to North America, Native Americans from these areas interacted regularly. Soft woven bags like this one were often used to carry goods on horseback from one place to another or to simply store and protect berries, roots, and nuts from moisture and dust. The object is in good condition. Some of the wool is faded.

The Pomo bear-doctor and the dagger he carried have left a trail of confusion in scholarly literature. Dr. Hudson, informant to Stewart Culin, Museum’s curator, summarized as follows. Bear men belong to a secret organization with a representative from each tribe. He preyed on the community and if killed another would be elected in his place. The object of the society was to eliminate undesirable people in the tribe. Bear-doctors were said to have carried one or two daggers of this type with the tips sharpened and rubbed on grinding stones.The realistic style of incising, impeccably rendered does indicate artist provenance to William Benson and has been found on other items know to have been made by Benson. Since several of these have been found in Museum collections, all made by Benson, these are clearly "models" made for the non-Native market.

Woven hat painted by Native American artist Tom Price with the symbol of a leading family in black, red, and blue green. The design is of Tcamaos, the mythological personification of submerged driftwood that comes to the surface and causes damage to canoes when users aren't watching. The red ovoid form that is part of the artist's personal style as well as the red star on the crown help to identify Tom Price as the painter of the hat. CONDITION: Stable and fair. There are numerous repairs with minor cracks and breaks. The blue green paint around the eyes has almost completely flaked off.

This headdress was worn perpendicularly at the back of the head, not vertically on the crown, as is common with Native American headdresses of very similar style worn by the Yokuts of Central California. In general structure it resembles Pomo headdresses. Supplementary files: "Dance headress for a man; brown straight feathers rise out of a ruff of soft feathers. A quill pendant hangs from the front of the ruff. Condition: good."

Feathered headdress worn by men as a sunshade. Condition: good

Polychrome vessel with a procession of warrior figures with trophy heads hanging from their waists surrounding a bound prisoner who has been stripped of his clothes except for a trophy head (possibly a disgraced warrior). The prisoner's penis has been split in two and as blood drips down, he screams in pain (the speech glyphs above his head indicate screaming). The figure behind him holds an executioner's staff topped with a large obsidian knife.

A seated female figure with her hands on her waist and a large head, open at the top. There are openings for her eyes and mouth and holes in her ears for ornaments. Her legs short and bulbous, and her breasts are flat. Small holes under arms and inside legs and navel are for the escape of air during firing. The figure is painted with a red, black, and white slip and a pattern of wavy black lines appears on the torso; a black lozenge pattern decorates the chin and neck area. Condition: the right leg has been repaired, as well as the head which was broken off and replaced. One of a pair of ancestral figures (mate is 69.132.2). Pairs of figures, such as these Zacatecas examples, have been found as sets, in shaft-and-chamber tombs, along with other offerings to the dead.

This is a long curved tusk engraved [scrimshaw is a non-Native term for this type of engraving on ivory] with scenes depicting men hunting walrus in boats, scenes of village huts and food preparation. There is a break in it.

This woven teapot is missing the knob from it's lid. It is an excelent example of the creativity of weavers early in the 20th century to make objects aimed at a tourist and collectors' market as the teapot was made to appeal to non-Native buyers.

Culin purchased this rattle from Saucy Calf who explained the symbolism to Francis La Flesche. It would have been used in what is now the Native American Church. The gourd is painted with a zigzag line of red paint that represents the crown of thorns. The handle is worked with beads that represent lightning, divided into two parts by a band in the middle. The lower part of this band represents earth and the upper the sky, illustrating man ascending into heaven. The metal attached to the handle reads, “Behold the heart of Jesus is with me."