Shawl
date: label: Accession Date
content: 17 Feb 2017
label: Collection Date
content: 7 Jun 2008
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Candace S. Greene
label: Collector
content: Dr. Michael Jordan
label: Donor Name
content: National Museum of Natural History
notes: label: Notes
content: This shawl was collected at auction during the Chief Satanta White Bear Descendants' annual dance in Apache, Oklahoma on June 7, 2008. Parker Emhoolah was serving as the head singer for the dance. Parker held a “special” during the dance to express his appreciation for having been selected to serve as the head singer for the celebration. Part of the special was a giveaway to honor other members of the event, and he had presented the shawl as a gift to the singers, who auctioned it. The auctioning of the shawl occurred almost immediately after it was received by the singers, with the final bid at $80 to be shared among the singers. During the giveaway, Parker's wife Tina Emhoolah, a Comanche, acted as his spokesperson and addressed the audience. The background on the shawl comes from a following interview with her. Tina noted that it had an interesting backstory. She explained that her mother, also Comanche, held Parker in high esteem. Nevertheless, as self-described traditional people, they both observed the strict proscription against a son-in-law and a mother-in-law interacting. Her mother recalled being told that there was a way to formally dissolve the mother-in-law taboo. To do so, she had given the shawl to her son-in-law, Parker. The gift served to nullify the proscription, allowing her and Parker to interact freely. It was not clear from Tina's comments whether her mother or another individual had made the shawl. Parker is a member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and a Vietnam veteran, who served in the United States Marine Corps. He is highly regarded within the Kiowa community for both his military service and skill as a singer. Description: The shawl is made of yellow gabardine with gold fringe. It is decorated with a band of ribbonwork appliqué approx. 8” wide sewn near the bottom of the shawl. It features a red background with five abstract floral designs creating a bilaterally symmetrical design in yellow and royal blue. Contrasting color thread is used to outline each element. This information is an extract from more extended documentation provided by Tina Emhoolah in a 2008 interview, see attached.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 31 May 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Apache, Oklahoma, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Kiowa
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: 2076808
label: USNM Number
content: E434674-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Dance Garment
physicalDescription: label: Length
content: 150 cm
label: Width
content: 158 cm