War Shield
date: label: Accession Date
content: 18 Feb 1869
label: Collection Date
content: March 6 -7, 1868
name: label: Collector
content: Maj. Gen. Adna R. Chaffee
label: Collector
content: Dr. Henry McElderry
label: Donor Name
content: Army Medical Museum
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "...C.: SHIELD, THICK ROUND PIECE OF BUFFALO HIDE, FROM BACK OF WHICH HANGS A BUFFALO'S TAIL. COVERS ARE MADE OF BUCKSKIN; ON THE INNER ARE PAINTED REPRESENTATIONS OF WHITE MEN, ANIMALS, AND BUILDINGS IN VARIOUS COLORS; THE OUTER HAS A BLUE CENTER, WITH TUFT OF WHITE AND BLACK FEATHERS, MANY OF THE BLACK ONES SERRATED; RED AND BLUE LINES AND SPOTS; TWO GROUPS (EACH OF FOUR RED AND FOUR BLUE RIFLES) POINT TOWARD CENTER. ILLUS.: HNDBK. N. AMER. IND., VOL. 4, FIG. 14, P. 179. IDENTIFIED THERE AS COMANCHE SHIELD AND COVERS TAKEN FROM QUAHADA COMANCHES IN TEXAS IN 1868 BY A DETACHMENT OF THE 6TH CAVALRY OUT OF FORT GRIFFIN. SEE PHOTO CAPTION FOR MORE INFORMATION/DESCRIPTION OF OBJECTS. A RAWHIDE CIRCLE, MARKED 8443, HAD BEEN GIVEN T #1260 ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT #8443 WAS WRONG. JOALLYN ARCHAMBAULT EXAMINED IT AND PROPOSED THAT IT WAS ORIGINALLY PART OF #8443C. THEREFORE, IT HAS BEEN GIVEN THAT NUMBER AND STORED WITH REST OF 8443C - F. PICKERING 3-2-1990." Reference: Jones, William K. 1968. "Three Kwahari Comanche weapons captured by the Army at Paint Creek, Texas, March 6, 1868." Great Plains Journal, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 31-47.
label: Notes
content: Inner shield cover is illustrated (under # 8443C) Fig. 30, p. 46 in Ha¨ma¨la¨inen, Riku. 2010. Bear power motifs on Plains Indian shields = Ba¨renmotive in Schildbemalungen der Plainsindianer. Wyk auf Foehr, Germany: Tatanka Press. Object is described pp. 47 - 48: "The shield ... is undecorated except for the animal tail attached to it on the reverse side. The ... inner cover ... has ... [a] central motif ... composed of the central face-like circle in multiple colours and long narrow horns running upwards. At the bottom are two shafts radiating from the central face circle made up of four zigzag lines each. Between these shafts at the very bottom of the surface appear two bear paws, one in red and the other in blue, with the claws pointing outwards. On the left side of the surface is a church in red with three pinnacles on the top of the church, one on each of two corners and the biggest one between them on the point of the roof. On the right side is a human in red with a breechcloth and a bow in his hand. At the very top, between the horns, is another human in blue wearing a coat and a hat that seems to have a single horn in front. Around the outer edge of the cover has been attached a band of red woolen cloth to which several feathers have been attached." [Note: outer shield cover is not described in this publication.]
label: Record Last Modified
content: 7 Jul 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 5
place: label: Place
content: Paint Creek / Fort Griffin, Near, Haskell County, Texas, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Comanche (Numunuu)
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: E8443-2
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Shield