Ceramic vessel: "Hasinai Twins"
date: label: Accession Date
content: 30 May 2014
label: Collection Date
content: 1 Oct 2007
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. J. D. Rogers
label: Donor Name
content: Jereldine (Jeri) Redcorn
notes: label: Notes
content: This vessel is part of a collection of three ceramic vessels (catalog numbers E432917 - E432919) made by Caddo tribe member, Jereldine (Jeri) Redcorn, née Cross. The vessel, named "Hasinai Twins" by the maker, is a tall ovaloid vase shape, with a simple restricted mouth and a slightly flared rim. Made of red clay, with the incised decoration filled with white-grey powdered material, likely kaolinite clay. The main design features two human figures standing back to back, with a raccoon between them. On the back of the vessel, there are three incised circles inside of each other, with the central/inner circle quartered by two intersecting lines. A similar quartered circle is below the raccoon in the main design. The phrase "Hasinai Twins" is a reference to the "coninisi", a pair of supernatural children who served as intermediaries between the Caddo priests and God as described by a Spanish missionary sometime between 1691 and 1722 (Hatcher 1927-1928, [Pt. 2]:290-292; Rogers and Sabo 2004:625). In naming her vessel, Ms. Redcorn has utilized this early ethnographic information in conjunction with her interpretation of a design motif found on a partially restored engraved shell (Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, LfCrI, B108-4) from the Spiro site in eastern Oklahoma. The paired figures motif is known from several examples at Spiro, in the Craig A style (Phillips and Brown 1984:136). Citations: Hatcher, Mattie A. (translator). 1927-1928. Descriptions of the Tejas or Asinai Indians. 4 Pts. Southwestern Historical Quarterly 30(3):206-218, (4):283-304; 31 (1):50-62, (2):150-180. Phillips, Phil and James A. Brown. 1984. Pre-Columbian Shell Engravings from Craig Mound at Spiro, Oklahoma, Part 2. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, Mass. Rogers, J. Daniel and George Sabo, III. 2004. The Caddos. In Handbook of North American Indians, Southeast. Vol 14. pp. 616-631. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 14 Sep 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Norman, Oklahoma, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Caddo
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2060431
label: USNM Number
content: E432917-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Vessel
physicalDescription: label: Circumference - Widest Point Of Vessel
content: ca. 63.5 cm
label: Diameter - Mouth Opening Of Vessel
content: ca. 11 cm
label: Diameter - Base Of Vessel
content: ca 6 cm