Shawl
date: label: Accession Date
content: 17 Feb 2017
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Candace S. Greene
label: Collector
content: Dr. Michael Jordan
label: Donor Name
content: National Museum of Natural History
notes: label: Notes
content: This shawl represents the official regalia of women members of the Chief Satanta White Bear Descendants organization. White Bear was a prominent figure in nineteenth century Kiowa history. The organization is comprised of his descendants and was established to honor his memory and perpetuate Kiowa cultural practices. Betty Sankadota Washburn was the founder of the organization and the shawl was donated by her. It is a replica of her own shawl, which held too much sentimental association for her to part with the original. She wished to have her organization represented in the National Museum of Natural History's collection, and consequently, she decided to have a new shawl made for the museum. She repeatedly refused to accept payment for the shawl. The organization shawls typically specify their owners' genealogical connection to Satanta. Each member of the organization traces his or her ancestry to one of Satanta's offspring. The space beneath the logo is reserved for the name of this ancestor. The name “Set' tainte” is embroidered on this one to make it identical to her own. Satanta's oldest son Grey Goose inherited his father's name, and his descendants' shawls bear this name. Mrs. Washburn is descended from Grey Goose. Her paternal grandmother was Grey Goose's daughter. Mrs. Washburn's father, Clarence Sankadota, also carried the name Satanta as does her son, Kendall Washburn. Other members of the organization trace their descent to other siblings Odlepaugh and Mark Auchiah, and their descendants' shawls are so marked Description: The shawl is made of red gabardine and is fringed with golden-rod chainette fringe. The organization's shawls were designed by Mrs. Washburn with the assistance of her husband and her son Kendall Washburn. The first shawls made were hand painted but they are now screen printed. The colors red and yellow were selected because they were Satanta's “war colors” and both colors appeared on his shield. The words “Chief Satanta Descendants” are embroidered in yellow in an arch that curves around the organization's logo, and the name “White Bear' is embroidered in smaller letters beneath. The organization decided to employ “Satanta,” the anglicized version of “Set' tainte,” White Bear's Kiowa name, because the former is more familiar and readily recognizable to non-Indians. The organization's emblem consists of a white circular disc surrounded by a yellow ring. The words “CHIEF SATANTA DESCENDANTS” are printed in red on the upper half of the ring. The words “WHITE BEAR” are printed in red across the top of the white disc. According to Mrs. Washburn the circular disc represents Satanta's shield. The following symbols occupy the remainder of the disc: a war bonnet or headdress, a lance that resembles an arrow, a rope, and a bugle. The bonnet references that Satanta was a chief. The arrow is a representation of Satanta's zebat, a special lance shaped like a large arrow, complete with fletching near the butt. The twisted or braided object beneath the bonnet represents a rope or lariat. Satanta was roped during a battle with Mexican vaqueros who pulled him off his horse. He was rescued by Frizzlehead, and as the Kiowa rode away from the battlefield, Satanta still had the rope wrapped around him. The bugle evokes the famous story of Satanta using a captured military bugle to blow calls and confuse the US military. The organization's emblem is screen printed onto the shawl by a company based in Lawton, Oklahoma. The embroidery was done by Joyce Vinyard, who operated an embroidery shop in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Mrs. Washburn fringed the shawl herself. In fact, she indicated that since the organization's founding approximately fifty shawls had been made for its members and that she has fringed every single one. Mrs. Washburn fringes the shawls in her spare time and indicated that it usually takes her two days to fringe one edge. This information is an extract from more extended documentation provided by Betty Sankadota Washburn in interviews in 2010 and 2014, see attached.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 15 Sep 2020
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Oklahoma, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Kiowa
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2076808
label: USNM Number
content: E434679-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Dance Garment
physicalDescription: label: Length
content: 144 cm
label: Width
content: 165 cm