Headdress

Titles: Headdress (Supplied title)

Description: An eagle feather headdress, possibly Dakota, circa the mid-to late 19th century. The headdress has a swept-back bonnet and a cap made of a felt hat with the brim cut off. The crown is decorated with a circlet of twenty-four eagle feathers, each tipped with a red-dyed downy feather. The top nine feathers of the circlet also have red and black dyed horse hair strands. There are remains of red and green dyed feathers along the crown. Each quill has a rawhide loop folded over its bottom and is wrapped with cotton thread and covered by red wool stroud. Quills are attached to the cap by a rawhide lace passing through each quill loop and through the cap in large stitches. A leather thong runs through the center of the shaft of each feather in the circlet. The attached leather browband is lane-stitch decorated with blue glass seed beads in a step triangle pattern on a white bead background. A cluster of turkey feathers (est.) hangs at each end of the browband; sinew is wrapped around the leather thongs attached to the cap.

Dates

• Not earlier than 1860 - Not later than 1901 (Discovery)

Creation

• collected by: Whipple, Henry Benjamin
• owned/used by: Whipple, Henry Benjamin

Identifiers

• Accession Number: 7418.1

Credit: Minnesota Historical Society Collections, Gift of Mrs. George Chase Christian in memory of her husband, Mr. George Chase Christian

Holding Type: 3D Objects

Quantity: 1 item

Format

• Content Category: artifacts

Measurements

• 26 inches length (at longest point, from crown to end of feather)

Subjects

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