• Results (5,077)
  • Search

Item Search

The item search helps you look through the thousands of items on the RRN and find exactly what you’re after. We’ve split the search into two parts, Results, and Search Filters. You’re in the results section right now. You can still perform “Quick searches” from the menu bar, but if you’re new to the RRN, click the Search tab above and use the exploratory search.

View Tutorial

Log In to see more items.

Shirt for Chief's War Dress50.67.1a

Tailored as an "over-the-head" garment, the shirt is constructed from four pieces of skin (front, back and two sleeves). It is laced together from elbow to wrist on both sides, but the triangular bib is sewn on. Lazy stitch beadwork has been used on the bib and shoulders. Both the front and the back of the shirt are elaborately painted which is unusual. The upper quadrant on the proper left side of the shirt is stained a dark grayish brown, the upper right is smudged with reddish stain. The painted designs on these colored areas probably represent a tally related to war exploits. On the brownish area, sixteen linear objects, possibly stylized rifles, have been drawn in paint, one above the other. On the right, in the area partially stained in red, are seventeen linear designs in brown, bifurcated on the right side that may represent horse quirts. The shirt is also painted on the back with five geometric shapes that almost certainly represent people (torsos are triangular with round heads, but facial features are not indicated). Designs that probably represent horse tracks are on the right lower sleeve in front and on the reverse on the right shoulder. The lower left sleeve at the wrist is decorated with evenly spaced rows of short slashes. The beads used to decorate the shirt are almost entirely large blue and white pony beads, although there are some tube beads on the epaulets and along the sleeve. The porcupine quills are dyed mainly orange and white. The two rosettes on the chest are quilled with brown fern stems and white porcupine quills and are also appliquéd with white pony beads. There are some remnants of white fur on the tips of the fringe at the hip of the shirt. One feather was attached to fringe. Hair locks are made partly of human hair and partly of horsehair dyed blue-green with a few light colored hairs interspersed among the locks. The locks are wrapped at the base with porcupine quills. This shirt is part of an outfit with leggings 50.67.1b, c.

Culture
Sioux, Yanktonai and Nakota
Material
pony bead, porcupine quill, buckskin, maidenhair fern stem, human hair, horse hair, dye and feather
Holding Institution
Brooklyn Museum
View Item Record
Baleen Whale Mask08.491.8901

Large wooden whale mask carved from 14 pieces of cedar, the main body carved from one large piece that has been hollowed out. Movable lower jaw, flippers, and flukes are controlled with cords. Head is painted with red and blue nose and blue eye sockets. Beneath each eye, is black stripe with white dots. Collar is made up of a blue fin design. The whale's blow hole is in the form of a painted and carved face. The dorsil fin, once detachable, is painted and carved with an animal face in profile. The torso is painted with white and blue stripes, and large white dots, running the length of the body which has a white underside.

Culture
Kwakwaka'wakw
Material
cedar wood, hide, cotton cord, nail and pigment
Holding Institution
Brooklyn Museum
View Item Record
Ledger Book Drawing1992.76.3

The reservation era of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when Native American tribes had ceded their land to the federal government and were confined to set aside tracts of land, created profound cultural changes for the Plains peoples. The masculine artistic tradition of painting warrior's exploits on hide shirts and robes declined but men continued to record their deeds and their changing way of life in paintings and drawings on canvas, muslin, and small notebooks, or ledger books. Many of these works memorialize individual achievements in hunting and warfare. Some ledger books were carried into battle and "captured" on the battlefield. U.S. Army men who had amicable relations with Indian scouts or were guards of Native American prisoners commissioned others. This drawing depicts one warrior on horseback with a rifle confront another warrior on foot about to release his arrow from the bow. Still another warrior behind the horse brandishes his rifle. A sword is suspended in mid-air behind his head.

Culture
Cheyenne
Material
ink, crayon and woven paper
Holding Institution
Brooklyn Museum
View Item Record
Headdress Frontlet50.158

Headdress frontlet with a carved bear that can be identified by the depth of its eye sockets and the way its eyes are carved. The Bear appears to be overpowering an insect that has a segmented body and wings behind its head. Framing the carving along the sides and across the top are inset rectangles of abalone shell. Also inset with abalone are the bear's eyes, teeth and paws. The animal's face is blue-green with thick black outlined ears and heavy eyebrows. Its nose, mouth, and torso are red. The proper left edge of the frontlet was repaired and the wood backing for the abalone shell in this area was probably replaced. The object is in good condition. The frontlet might have been hollowed out at the thickest part of the piece behind the face to prevent splitting. The blue-green color is frequently used among the Tlingit while defined eye sockets are frequently indicated by the Haida. Some pieces of abalone shell in this piece are lighter and pinker than other bluer pieces and these pinker pieces may have been replacement pieces for the original blue inlays.

Culture
Haida
Material
abalone shell, wood and pigment
Holding Institution
Brooklyn Museum
View Item Record
Pipe Bowl representing Owl80.98.2

Catlinite or pipestone pipe bowl carved in the form of an owl perched on a rectangular bar. Beak, tufts, eyes, and legs carved with details of eyes and feathers indicated by incised lines. The back of the bowl, under the bird, is carved with a serrated edge and turns up at the end as though that owl had a tail. The area around the opening in the owl's head is blackenedmining rights are for Native Americans.A pipe stem would be added to this bowl for smoking.Catlinite is only found in the Minnesota region in what is called Pipestaone National Parkk. Use of pipestone is restricted to Native Americans.

Culture
Plains
Material
catlinite ? or pipestone ?
Holding Institution
Brooklyn Museum
View Item Record
Girl's Coiled Dowry or Puberty Basket (kol-chu or ti-ri-bu-ku)07.467.8308

This is a conical shaped basket with a stepped flag design in brown on natural fiber colored background. The shells and feathers are fastened to the exterior and extend out from basket. Although called a puberty basket it is thought that this basket was not necessarily used for puberty ceremonial. At the time it was collected it was thought that ceremony no longer was being practiced so such baskets were no longer being made for traditional practice. While it may have been intended for such, there is no physical evidence that it was ever used to hold water, and it is more likely that it was made for sale, an aestheticized version of a traditional form.

Material
willow, sedge root, bulrush root, acorn woodpecker scalp feather, california valley quail topknot feather, oilivella biplicata shell and cotton string
Holding Institution
Brooklyn Museum
View Item Record
Kachina Doll (Kyanaque Kahana)03.325.4623

Curator Stewart Culin, when he collected this doll identified it as kyanaque ko-ha-na or Kanakwe. In his 1907 diaries he saw a performance of the Kanakwe dancers in the plaza in Zuni. This doll matches the description of the regalia these dancers were wearing exactly

Culture
She-we-na
Material
wood, pigment, cotton, hide, wool, feather, paper and metal
Holding Institution
Brooklyn Museum
View Item Record
Dance Flute03.325.4700

This long, elegant flute is made from a sound piece of wood with a bell shaped gourd painted in black, yellow, blue and white. Sprigs of fir are tied around the middle.

Culture
She-we-na
Material
wood, gourd, plant fiber, pigment, feather and cotton cloth
Holding Institution
Brooklyn Museum
View Item Record
Carved Necklace05.271

This necklace is made from 36 pieces of bone, teeth and ivory that are presently strung on a cord. It is unknown whether they originally belonged together and were on this cord or they have been joined at a later time. Ten of the pieces are elaborately carved into complex figures. Eight of the short teeth have a dot design on them. Other teeth appear to have been left natural and unmodified except for piercing a hole for a cord on one end.

Culture
Tlingit
Material
bone, ivory and tooth
Holding Institution
Brooklyn Museum
View Item Record
Necklace04.297.5471

Three strands of beads tied together making one necklace.

Culture
She-we-na
Material
stone, shell and string
Holding Institution
Brooklyn Museum
View Item Record