Exhibits > Traditional Art >
Shield
6. Shield
 This
shield was described in Royal Balcom’s inventory: “One
medicine shield with painting of buffalo, bear, and eagle. The value
of this shield lies not so much in its thickness as in its ‘charm’
or medicine, this particular medicine being the white wild goose
feathers which are found at the top of the shield, and thirty-one
[golden] eagle feathers.”
There are now twenty-eight eagle feathers and a small grouping
of five white goose feathers hanging from the deerskin shield. The
feathers are secured to the shield with sinew—some are bound
with porcupine quills and/or red cotton string. Within the shield
itself is a rounded secondary shield made of rawhide and also a
round piece of cardboard with advertising for a Victor sound machine.
The shield is 16 inches in diameter. WHC2000.17.06.
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