Girl's Decorated Buckskin Cape
date: label: Accession Date
content: 20 Oct 1955
name: label: Donor Name
content: Mrs. Marjorie M. Post
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "Buckskin cape worn over ordinary dress by girl during puberty ceremony. Poncho type, cut fringe at sides and bottom. Painted decoration front and back with large yellow background, green and red discs, brown outline around neck. Beaded equal armed cross on chest and on similar area at back. Narrow band of seed beads near bottom, with stepped triangle in center. Bead colors - dark blue, red, amber, green and white. Loaned to Renwick 9/3/81. Returned. Loaned to Hillwood 12/15/1982. Illus.: p. 28, Pl 134, Celebrations catalogue, Smithsonian Press, 1982. Girl's Puberty Cape, vs. 1900-1935, probably Jicarilla Apache Indians, New Mexico; buckskin, tin, beads, paint; 38 x 36 (96.5 x 91.4). The Apaches gave significance to a girl's entry into puberty with this special robe and the ceremonies unblemished skins. In some areas hunters took freshly killed deer away from cougars to avoid using hides marred by arrow holes. Blessings were sung over the finished dress. A prescribed manner of dressing was strictly followed, with the garments layered in a precise order and each piece draped in a particular way. The complete outfit consisted of robe, buckskin dress, fringed cape, beads, shawl, shell earrings, shell necklace, moccasins, and magpie feathers for the hair. The girl wore this outfit for four days of ritual, dance, and feasting. On the fifth day she changed into ordinary Apache attire, and an even larger feast took place. Although bucksin is otherwise rarely worn today by Apaches, buckskin puberty robes are still made and worn for this ceremony."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 21 Nov 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Not Given, North, New Mexico, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Apache, Jicarilla
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 204578
label: USNM Number
content: E393165-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Cape