War Shield
date: label: Accession Date
content: 26 Jun 1916
name: label: Collector
content: Francis La Flesche
label: Donor Name
content: Bureau Of American Ethnology
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "The shield cover has drawn on the front 6 stars in red and green. In the center is a circular bead ornament of concentric circles in blue yellow and red. From this hang a horsehair scalp lock and two quilled cords. Border of the shield is ornamented with a band of maroon woolen cloth to which are attached scalp locks and an iron arrowpoint. The shield cover has a circular patch. The back of the cover is also patched. On the back cover of the shield is drawn a large Christian cross outlined with orange. This was done by Saucy Calf's daughter who was a religionist. See accession records for additional data."
label: Notes
content: The acquisition of this shield was reported in "Local Notes", an internal Smithsonian staff publication. The issue dated July 3, 1916, p. 2, in the section on New Accessions and Exhibits notes: "The Osage Indian war shield ... was secured for the Museum by Mr. Francis La Flesche, of the Bureau of American Ethnology from an Osage Indian popularly known as "Saucy Calf", who inherited it from his father, a member of the Tsi-zhu division of the Osage Tribe of Oklahoma. The Tsi-zhu division of the tribe kept to the left of the camp circle and stood for peace, while the other division, the Hon-ga, held the right side and were more warlike. The shield of Saucy Calf's father, therefore, was made from the skin of the left side of a young angry buffalo bull, which figured in the tribal ceremonies. It is decorated with pictures of stars in further significance of his division, which represented the sky. The number of times that this shield was carried in battle ... is not known, but Saucy Calf himself carried it in 1873 when some of the Osage went on the war-path [sic] and slew a Wichita chief near the Salt plains in Oklahoma."
label: Notes
content: Illus. p. 77 in in Bailey, Garrick A., and Daniel C. Swan. 2004. Art of the Osage. Seattle: University of Washington Press/Saint Louis Art Museum.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 23 Feb 2024
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Not Given, Oklahoma, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Osage (Wazhazhe)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 059934
label: USNM Number
content: E291090-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Shield