Bequest of W.S. Morton Mead

Doll with horsehair braids decorated with blue and white streamers. Buckskin dress with a green, white, blue, and red belt with buckskin boots. Lovely big feet where the beadworker probably used left over beads as they are many colors. She wears long, dangling beaded earings.

The object is a spear case that is part of material purcased as belonging to Red Cloud. It has a long tubular hide section at the top and an attached triangular-shaped hide pouch at the bottom. The tubular portion contains cut out geometric patterns and is edged with red and blue woolen cloth that is attached with hide binding. It has two loosely attached beaded hide rectangles trimmed with red woolen cloth and fringed at one end. The front of the pouch portion has blue, white, red and yellow beadwork forming vertical triangular designs in different sizes. It is edged with long hide fringe strips. This type of Crow case was often carried across the saddle of women to honor their husbands as seen in historical photographs. They are still made today for the same purpose and are an important part of Crow regalia.

Probably Lakota because they were major quill workers, the bladder bag contains many dyed porcupine quills.

Possibly Lakota although many Plains women used such bags. . Women would use this small bladder pouch. It has bugle and basket type beads. It is holding a mixture of dyed and natural porcupine, very nice quills for sewing.

Sheath for a large knife of rawhide partly painted red with beaded decoration in white, orchid, blues, red and yellow. The sheath is also studded with a few nails along the edge. A triangle is cut out from the hide on one side. This is part of the group purchased as belonging to Red Cloud.

This fringe is made from a partially tanned strip of buffalo hide that is wrapped at the top with bird quills. Several lines of this quill wrapped fringe combine to form repeated blocks of color. Usually quillwork comes down longer. The top of the quilled section has a row of white beads that resemble olivella shells.Usually quillwork comes down longer.From left to right the blocks are: blue, black, and brown (perhaps once orange) repeated in sequence. .The shell beads are unusual and the porcupine quill and white beads come from over in the Minnesota area. It is too wide for a pipe bag. Possibly Mandan-Hidatsa area or Sioux.

Probably Eastern Sioux. Possibly made for trade as no evidence of use. This is a double pipe bowl made from red catlinite or pipestone with lead inlay at the pipe end and a serrated point at the bowl end.

Henry L. Batterman Fund and the Frank Sherman Benson Fund

Brooklyn Museum Collection