Dick S. Ramsay Fund

The backs of these mittens and the thumbs are quilled with red, light blue, white, and purple porcupine quills in a floral design. The main composition is symmetrically arranged around an equal-armed, eight pointed element on a quadrate layout. The effect is of a flowering plant bursting into blossoms toward the fingertips so that the design is oriented towards the wearer. Design elements consist of the double curve cross, the trefoil, tear drop shaped and heart shaped motifs. A smaller curvilinear floral and leaf is embroidered on the thumb. Clustered on a single stem, similar design elements appear in blue, red, white, and purple. The cuffs are made of dark blue Stroud cloth decorated at the border with beads and ribbon. From the upper third of the cuff, proceeding toward the fingers, the ornaments are arranged: a scalloped design of white beads, each point terminating in a trilobal design; then a field of red ribbon; followed by a simple line of single white beads; a narrow band of gold or dark yellow ribbon; and finally a border of two lines of white beads. Blue and white bird quills decorate the seams. See supplementary file in Arts of Americas office.

Sun (Tawa) Kachina Doll. This Kachina is carved from one piece of cottonwood root. This Kachina has a large circular headdress of carved white feathers with black tips surrounding a circular face. The face has the bottom half blue with black slits for eyes, triangle for mouth and two parallel lines on either side of mouth. The top of face is bisected with yellow, black and red stripes making a forehead design. The back of the headdress has real feathers. Across his back is a silk ribbon bandolier. The carved wood sash in back has carved fox pelt. The figure has a flesh colored chest with Pl breast yellow and PR breast turquoise. He wears a carved dance kilt and boots. His knees wear leather leg bands decorated with bells and yarn. His raised PR arm and hand holds a gourd rattle and his lowered PL arm and hand carries a flute. This Kachina is very rarely seen in public because thir performance is part of sacred ceremonies reserved only for specific clans. Tawa, a spiritual being seldem appears.Tawa (Sun) kachina dancer wears a radiating headdress made from yucca fibers, and carries a gourd rattle and a flute. He may appear in mixed kachina dances but this is unusual as he rarely appears in major public events. Tawa does not belong to any specific men’s kiva group but will appear on request in their sacred ceremonies. All the stories about him relate to his interactions with people and animals and how he contributed to earth’s creation.

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.

The object is a rectangular rawhide bag with beading overall on one side only. Although acquired as a "medicine" bag it most probably is only a bag for a man's personal belongings.The beaded geometric patterns are blue, green, red and yellow against a white background. The top of the bag has a flap that folds over. The flap has short hide fringes along the edge with a few small metal cones or jingles attached. At the bottom of the bag are long hide fringes and, at either end, remnants of a red ribbon tied into a bow. An old tag on the bag reads “Cheyenne Bag Relic of Custer Battle. Made by Cheyenne squaw her husband "Wooden Leg" fought in the battle. The back bag is cavalryman's bootleg. Front is buckskin. Fringes are buckskin. Mr. Wooden Leg................ “There is confirmation that indeed Wooden leg fought at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. Verso "Mr. Denton of Billings Montana of whom it was bought Oct' 1914

Long bodice (collar) of dentalium shell is a pre-style form of decoration because these shells were hard to obtain. The Sioux would have traded for them. This would be for a special woman and handed down in families. The very heavy dress does not look reworked and was worn very little and probably only used for special occasions. Blue wool trade cloth, red, white, blue ribbons might indicate July 4th reference. A slit is at the back of the dress and the basic pattern is T-shaped. Four-direction designs on the bottom would be prestige decoration and the little flowers along the bottom are unusual, odd. The bells are different colors. The body of the dress is machine sewn.

Designs made up of incised lines and pierced or "cut out' shapes elaborate the form of this flattened section of elk antler. The upper end of this hair ornament is a carved, elongated semi-circle, rounded at the top, but it is cut at the bottom to suggest the form of two figures which emerge at the shoulders, as if headless, with slightly flexed knees. The figures' torsos have cut triangular shapes pointing downwards. The elongated, lower section of the ornament is pierced with circles, a semicircle, narrow or linear crescents, and two pointed ovals. Each of the "cut-outs" is surrounded with an incised outline, most of them rubbed with red pigment, with the following exceptions: the inner legs of the two figures, on the shins from the knee to the ankle, are rubbed in black. A horn shaped outline is also rubbed in black. At the rounded end, beyond the bone tube is a cross, cut through the flat piece of antler. A faded ribbon, now off-white, is tied to the bone tube and a thin piece of thong is knotted underneath the tube, on the unornamented side of the antler plate. The spreader has lost any remnant of feathers or woodpecker beak that once may have adorned it coming out of the femural bone tube.

Charles Stewart Smith Memorial Fund

Blue wool leggings with ribbon work in blue, green, red, purple, gold, and beige. "G-String" was curator Stewart Culin's name for a pubic covering. Such an object is missing and is not in any written record so no description can be made.

This otter skin cap tail would generally be worn around the neck or attached to a choker. It has a side edge of loom beadwork in white with red and blue designs. The blue cloth heart on the top edge is edged in white and red and is beaded on the reverse side. The support material which is hidden by the fur is covered with reverse appliqué ribbon work which conceals the fur fold and seams.