Museum Expedition 1904, Museum Collection Fund

Florence B. and Carl L. Selden Fund

Henry L. Batterman Fund

This dyed black deerskin pouch is decorated with a false flap, a modified "V" shaped line that is elaborated to seem like the opening of the bag. The edge of this "flap" is bordered with braided quill work in stripes of orange and blue, edged at the top and bottom of the border with thin white lines. A thin, undulating white line has been embroidered above this border. From the bottom of the border, enhancing this illusion of a flap, metal cones filled with reddish deer hair are suspended. Similar cones with deer hair are suspended from the bottom of the bag. The bottom half of the bag is embroidered with quills in a complex of motifs. Three double-curved forms or bifurcating lines are embroidered with thin lines or orange, blue and white. These forms "sprout" from a wider double band of orange and white braided quill work, elaborated with thin outlines in blue and white. The border or groundline for these sprouting forms is surrounded by an irregular, zig-zag outline in white with some blue at bottom. At the base of each of the five resulting points of the zig-zag are five circles, each composed of concentric rings made of quill embroidered lines of white, orange and blue. The ribbon strap of the pouch is now deteriorated, appearing to be maroon with yellowish stripes.

A. Augustus Healy Fund

This is a wonderful Warrior Society dance wand. However the handle seems very short, as usually they are longer. One in the Buffalo Bill Plains Museum collection is just like this with long handle. These are also shown being used by dancers in Catlin’s paintings .