Metal Lance-Heads
date: label: Accession Date
content: 14 Nov 1947
name: label: Collector
content: Brig. Gen. James D. Glennan
label: Donor Name
content: Frances Glennan
notes: label: Notes
content: Lance heads. Two double-edged metal blades. 33" (84 cm); 27" (69 cm). Records: Crooked, or medicine lance. The lance is a sword captured by Comanches in Mexico years ago. The lance is Kiowa. The other parts have been renewed or worn out. The sheaths were always made of eagle wing feathers, war bonnets always of tail feathers (from White Crow, Old Man Kiowa). Each band was entitled to carry a Crooked Lance. It carried responsibility with it. He had to have a strong heart, could never run away. If attacked by superior numbers the carrier had to plant his lance in the ground and die fighting by it. (C). (from Merrill, William L. et al. 1997. A Guide to the Kiowa Collections at the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, no. 40. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.)
label: Notes
content: Entered in Glennan's catalog as: 75. Lance or spear, Kiowa, sword head, and eagle wing feather sheath. The head is a sword Indian captured years ago, and used as lance head. The other parts have been renewed as worn out. The sheaths were always made of eagle wing feathers, war bonnets always of tail feathers, from White Crow, old Kiowa man. Entered in Glennan's catalog as: 76. Crooked or medicine lance. The sword point is an old sword captured by Comanches in Mexico. The lance is Kiowa. The Kiowa soldiers were divided into four bands, and a chief of each band was entitled to carry a crooked lance. It carried responsibility with it. He had to have a strong heart, could never run away. If attacked by superior numbers could not run, had to plant his lance in the ground and die fighting by it.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 31 May 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Not Given, Oklahoma Territory, 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: 177672
label: USNM Number
content: E385890-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Lance