Tobacco-Pouch
date: label: Accession Date
content: 18 Feb 1869
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. A. B. Campbell
label: Donor Name
content: Army Medical Museum
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "PONY BEADWORK. PLAINS INDIAN TYPE-J.C.EWERS. LOAN: DENVER MUSEUM 3/15/65 RETURNED 10/6/65. *POUCH IS CLASSIC CHEYENNE OR ARAPAHO CUT AND STYLE. PONY BEADWORK IS OLD UPPER MISSOURI DESIGN USED BY BOTH CHEYENNE AND ARAPAHO. IT WAS COLLECTED IN COLORADO TERRITORY, WHICH STRENGTHENS A CHEYENNE OR ARAPAHO ATTRIBUTION. ABOVE INFO. IS PER FATHER PETER J. POWELL. - W. MERRILL 6-21-1990."
label: Notes
content: Illustrated and described on p. 161 of Torrence, Gaylord. 2014. The Plains Indians Artists of Earth and Sky. Skira. Theodore Brasser's catalogue entry attributes it as a Central Plains, circa 1845 tobacco bag, and notes about it: "This bag is made of deerskin, opening at the top between four long tabs which are edged with pony beads. Lane-stitched beadwork covers the sinew-sewn side seams and the lower panel of the bag. Red beads and metal cones are strung on the long fringes at the bottom of the bag. The shape of the bag identifies it as a container for pipe and tobacco, carried by prestigious men on formal occasions. ... Pipe bags decorated with very simple designs in blue and white pony beads, often with tabs around the top opening, prevailed throughout the North-central Plains before c. 1845. Distinct tribal art styles emerged only after that date, when smaller beads became available. Very few of these early bags have survived, none of them with reliable documentation. Long tabs around the opening of these bags and some other details survived longest among the conservative Cheyenne, but these conventions might once have been common throughout the North-central Plains. In contrast to pipe bags after c. 1860, both sides of this bag are identical, featuring a bold banded design. Although the more complex beadwork patterns on later bags were sometimes known to have symbolic meaning, often related to war honors, similiar meanings have not been confirmed for the early examples. However, painted stripes on war shirts and leggings are often associated with war honors, and this concept might have extended to these early beaded designs."
label: Notes
content: Listed in original AMM catalog as #53, An Indian tobacco pouch from Colorado Territory, ornamented with beads.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 7 Jul 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Colorado Territory, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Cheyenne (Tsitsistas, Suhtai) (?)
label: Culture
content: Arapaho (Inunaina, Hinono'ei) (?)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 416140
label: USNM Number
content: E8353-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Pipe Bag
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object, Including Fringe, With Top Tabs Down
content: 63 cm
label: Length - Object, Including Fringe, With Top Tabs Extended
content: 86 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 17 cm
label: Height - Object
content: 2.2 cm