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Post by seetsseeba on Aug 30, 2009 13:22:44 GMT -5
My husband has almost finished a buffalo hide for me to use this winter. I wish I could put a picture on here for everyone to see. What I want to do now is paint a symbol on it. The one I have chosen I would like to know what it means. It is 3 circles with a globe in the center. On each circle there is points all around each. They point inward, and out. Does anyone know what this means? I hope I describe it well enough.
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Post by beaudro on Aug 30, 2009 19:05:11 GMT -5
i'm thinking this is what your talking about. We know that talking about Native American History can provoke some people. It needs to be known that Native History is the most distorted of all. Most all symbols in Native are used throughout different nations and can mean different things to each one. That much is pretty well accepted by any historian. To answer specifically on this symbol, it's one that has been interpreted as "black warbonnet society", and was dubbed that name by a guy named "horse capture". I think thats the right name anyway. According to him, the symbol would have arised in the later 1800's , the problem is that Bodmer painted it much earlier on and Horse Capture never mentioned him. I brought this same question up on the plains indian forum when I painted my robe. I was told , and this comes from good research in my opinion,, The symbol means the sun, eagle, and a creator. Most tribes beleived in one single creator must as we do, thats not widely accepted either, sometimes that sparks debate and arguements. In any case, this is to mean that you have a wish (prayer), the eagle takes it to the sun, the sun takes it to the creator and the answer will come back. But like i'm saying, everything is so distorted in Native History, it's very hard, if not impossible to ever know the truth about much of it. I suppose as long as the beleif has changed the symbol will stand as a society of warriors , thats what many would want to believe instead.
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Post by seetsseeba on Aug 30, 2009 19:58:00 GMT -5
Along with this symbol sometimes I see a strip through the middle, whats that all about?
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Post by beaudro on Aug 30, 2009 20:50:40 GMT -5
thats commonly called a blanket strip. You'll see that on older ones more. Sometimes it's a real small quilled line. When the buffalo was killed they would prop it up on it's stomach using the legs underneath to keep it from rolling. Then cut down the back first, all the way from head to tail. Lay the hide down on the side and use one side to set the meat on. When the processing is done the carcass is rolled off and the meat rolled up in this hide. Later, the hide is cut back down the belly , so now you have two peices. It was either after tanning both peices, or before, but it was sewn up on that back side. Here's where the good stuff begins,, that seam that the woman sewed was covered in quill, at least early on it was quill. In my opinion is was to protect that seam as much as a decoration. This is where the whole blanket strip thing got started, as it went on they became real elaborate. You don't see them on every hide, but almost all of the old ones that are bonafide artifacts will have them.
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Post by Cody ( The Patriot ) on Aug 30, 2009 21:37:53 GMT -5
That cool Boo I have also seen were they would cut some extra out of the center ( the tough part) before they sew it back together .Ive been meaning to ask you what a blanket strip was.
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Post by beaudro on Aug 30, 2009 22:35:26 GMT -5
Thank you Cody, i learned something new,, I seen a robe in Gilcrease a while back and now i understand on the stitch what made it look so different,, it was partially cut out,, maybe it was sized? When you say tough part, i might beg to differ on that because many of these woman could really tan a hide, better than our eastern tanneries, I can quote that from a journal. but knowing that along the center of the back there is a long tough line, that makes good sense she would do this. Seets Se Be a , hows the parfleche coming along? you can tell Cody how hard that project was.
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