Shield And Cover
date: label: Accession Date
content: 8 Dec 1938
name: label: Donor Name
content: U. S. Army
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "This shield was taken at the Battle of Wounded Knee in South Dakota." Based on information received from the donor, this shield was originally cataloged as Sioux from the Wounded Knee Battlefield. This information was researched in 1998 and found to be without basis. It was established that the donor's father, who was reported as the collector, had not been present at that event and would have had no first hand knowledge on which to base such an assertion. It was further established that the shield design is a very close match to other shields documented as collected among the Crow - specifically American Museum of Natural History 50.1/3894 and Field Museum of Natural History 71,763. The shield has been re-cataloged as Crow, based on stylistic attribution, and the association with Wounded Knee has been dismissed. See files in Collections Management and in the Repatriation Office for further information. Information on this shield design, which originated with a man named Humped Wolf, is published by Robert Lowie in "Religion of the Crow," American Museum of Natural History, Anthropological Papers, vol. 25, pp.408-418 (1922).
label: Notes
content: The catalog card and accession information state that this object came from the Wounded Knee Battlefield, from a Sioux Indian. Repatriation office research indicates that the donor was not at Wounded Knee and that this type of shield is most likely Crow, not Sioux in origin. See Repatriation Office ethnology documentation on this object for further information. Materials: Buckskin, rawhide, paint, feathers, wool, and sinew. A rawhide shield is covered by a buckskin cover. The shield has four holes that allow three straps to be attached to its back. The cover is secured on the back of the shield with a buckskin drawstring. Holes in the cover (probably from the tanning process) are sewn with sinew. Diameter of shield and cover: 52.5 cm. Diameter of feather rosettes: 13 cm and 14 cm. Distance from edge of shield to edge of buckskin at back: 5.5 cm-13 cm. Dimensions of straps at back: 20 cm x 1.5 cm, 55 cm x 2 cm-4 cm, and 102 cm x 2.5 cm-23 cm (including fringe). Thickness of shield: 0.5 cm. Two pieces of string (one purple) tied to the back may be late additions to the object. See Wounded Knee Deaccession file and/or RO Office ethnology object documentation file and Crow ethnology documentation for futher information.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 16 May 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Montana (not certain), United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Crow (Apsaalooke)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 150518
label: USNM Number
content: E379296-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Shield
physicalDescription: label: Maximum Thickness - Shield
content: 0.5 cm
label: Maximum Diameter - Shield
content: 52.5 cm