Standard Of Dog Soldier
date: label: Accession Date
content: 17 May 1892
label: Collection Date
content: C. 1891
name: label: Collector
content: Mr. James Mooney
label: Donor Name
content: Bureau Of American Ethnology
notes: label: Notes
content: From Card: "With strap. Carried in war." Illus. BAE 14th Annual Report, Pl. CXXII, facing p. 988. (Old glass Negative # 1457, Smithsonian Institution National Anthropological Archives, NAA inv # 9531100.) These artifacts are described in Merrill, William L. 1997. A guide to the Kiowa collections at the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian contributions to anthropology, no. 40. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. The set is identified there as a dog soldier standard (Pobon). The sash is described on p. 15: Rawhide sash painted red with large slit at one end and small holes at other. Bundle of feathers at bottom of slit. Length 82" (208 cm.). The staff is described on p. 29 (under the incorrect catalogue number of 176692 #2): Wooden shaft with otter skin, bead, feather, and twisted fur pendants at one end, feathers tied at two points along shaft, wooden pendant shaped like roach spreader and painted red and green attached at mid-section. Length 72" (183 cm.). Additional information on p. 15 notes this from the records: "It was the duty of the warrior to fasten [the staff] about his neck by means of a strap [sash] and then advance upon the enemy and thrust the staff into the earth. Thus he must keep his post until the battle is over. If unsuccessful in the fight he must die in this position, unless some of this comrades release him. The Dog Soldiers were a society of young warriors who took the lead in all military affairs and acted as police of the tribe." Note re photos: negative # 2008-10821 is an overall shot of the sash; negative # 2008-10822 is an overall shot of the sash and the staff together.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 23 May 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Kiowa And Comanche Reservation, Oklahoma / Indian 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: 025718
label: USNM Number
content: E152897-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Insignia
physicalDescription: label: Length - Sash
content: 208 cm
label: Width - Sash
content: 19 cm
label: Depth - Sash
content: 6 cm
label: Length - Staff
content: 186 cm
label: Width - Staff
content: 6 cm
label: Depth - Staff
content: 6 cm