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Single Trail Feathered War Bonnet
Feathered bonnets were a symbol of leadership throughout the
Plains tribes. A warrior who rode out ahead to touch or strike
an enemy with a weapon or stick was said to have counted coup.
This act showed courage and the willingness to risk death. Every
so often, the warriors would gather in council. The warriors
would then share their exploits of counting their coup in each
and every situation. If the council (which included witnesses to
each event ),agreed on the accuracy of the coup count, a feather
would be given to the headdress maker. He or she would then add
the feather to the headdress as each coup count was agreed upon.
The more acts of bravery a warrior could account for , the more
feathers he received towards his headdress. Some had enough to
add a single or even a double trail to the war bonnet. This
event sometimes lasted several days.
This is a majestic example of a single trail war bonnet which
Larry constructed for over two months. Let’s start with the
background from which Larry acquired the feathers. As most
people know, since the 1960”s, one cannot possess the feathers
of endangered species birds or birds of prey. Therefore, some
people engaged in the art of hand painting these feathers. No
one in the world was more renowned for this art form than Bob
Wells. No one recreated the precise look of the Golden Eagle
tail feathers which are prominently used for headdresses like
Bob did . Larry, along with myself, had a close relationship
with Bob. Bob was more than enthusiastic about supplying Larry
with his feathers knowing they were being used by the best
reproduction artist in the world. Bob reproduced all types of
eagle, owl and hawk feathers which Larry used in all his work.
29 eagle feathers surround the cap while 31 feathers make up the
single trail. All feathers are wrapped with red dyed leather and
sinew while adorning white fluffs at the base. Each feather has
a small white fluff at the tip with yellow horse hair attached
in traditional fashion with animal glue. The hair symbolizes the
man’s scalp. The headband is made by traditional lazy stitch
with original seed beads of cobalt blue, greasy yellow, red and
the dominant meridian blue. A rare addition of cow buffalo horns
are added to the sides of the cap at the back of the headband.
This rare addition adds power and prestige to the headdress.
Towards the top of the horns, Larry added a beaded strip with
fringed leather hanging to add beautification to the horns. Four
full ermine drops are adorned on both sides of the cap below the
buffalo horns.
The trailer itself is something to behold. Made of thick
deerskin five and a half feet long and five inches wide, it is
edged one inch on both sides with red trade cloth and tightly
sewn with sinew. Adorned to the trade cloth 6 inches apart, are
10 beaded squares on each side of the trailer. Hanging from the
middle of each beaded square by leather thongs are 2 deer dew
claws staggered in length for a total of 40 dew claws in all.
Also on each side of the centered eagle feathers, are 17 dark
fluffs tied to the trailer with sinew and leather thongs for a
total of 34 fluffs. At the very bottom of the trailer, are four
antique cartridges from the 1800’s for added weight. Old West
artist George Catlin portrayed cartridges at the bottom of
trailers in many of his drawings and paintings. The added weight
was used in order that the trailer would not easily flip up
while on horseback. Finally, the back of the cap is also covered
with dark fluffs along with a fanned duck wing, and also has a sundance plume extending from the
center. The sundance feather is beautifully beaded at the base
of the quill while the feather itself is notched up to the end
with white fluffs attached at the tip of the sundance plume.
This plume is symbolic of the sun dance which is a religious
dance in worship of the sun performed at the summer solstice by
Plains Indians.
Larry made only two trailer war bonnets which I capitalized by
owning the more ornate of the two. This is not your typical
feathered headdress. This is a pristine reproduction made in
traditional ways which are lost in Native American culture
today. It is truly a magnificent example that is virtually
impossible to find anywhere in the world today. I know because
I’ve tried. |
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Description: Plains-Single Trailer Feathered Headdress With
Buffalo Horns
Date: Circa: 1994
Artist: Larry Richardson (Iroquois)
Represented by: Tom Manno (Phoenix, Arizona )
Photos by: Charles Zemis (Phoenix, Arizona)
Consultant & Appraiser : Jim Covarrubias (Apache) |
