Section 11

SHIELDS 71
NO. 11/7681). However, the following interpretation was given of the paintings on the inner cover:
The triangular black painting at the top of this cover represents clouds; the long, forked, red lines symbolize rain. The crooked black lines ending in knobs (below the center of the cover) typify bullets glancing from the shield. The eighteen blue-black lines (bottom center) with the longer center one ending in a small circle and crossed with six smaller lines represent pine trees on the distant mountains. The owl fastened to the center of the cover is the war medicine part of the bundle. The original owner fastened it to his hair when he was about to engage in battle. Invariably the attachment to the Crow shield indicates the visitant responsible for the medicine, so we may assume that this visitant was the owl.
This painted buckskin inner cover is 2i|^" in diameter. The outer cover, also of buckskin, is not painted. The rawhide shield base, J" thick, is not decorated.
ROTTEN belly's SHIELD FRONTISPIECE AND FIGURE 32
I believe this is the finest Crow shield I have seen. It is one of the oldest specimens of its kind. This shield was obtained from Mrs. Bull Tongue prior to March 1923. She inherited it from her husband who died in 1921. (cat. no. 11/7680).
According to the owner's information and traditions related by others, this shield was once the property of Rotten Belly (Arapoosh), a chief among the Crows. The painting on the shield is said to represent the moon, who appeared to Rotten Belly in a vision, and gave him this shield. This shield has been handed down for many generations, but no further information about it could be obtained.
[The Shield of Rotten Belly, head chief of the River Crows prior to his death in battle in 1834, is undoubtedly the most famous of all Crow Indian war medicines. Dr. Lowie was told by Grandmother's Knife that the "picture on this shield was that of a man in black with his ears disproportionately large" and that it "was noted for its medicine power and was in constant use until reservation times." Lowie added, "It ought to be at Pryor." (Lowie, 1922. p. 407-408). Apparently Wildschut followed Lowie's lead and was successful in purchasing this famous medicine.
Edward S. Curtis claimed that the famous shield was given to
72 CROW INDIAN MEDICINE BUNDLES
Rotten Belly by a thunderbird in a vision, and that the upper part was painted black to represent a storm cloud, below which ap- peared the head and claws of a thunderbird/' (Curtis. 1909. Vol. IV. p. 48). However, Curtis did not claim to have seen this shield.
According to Crow tradition this shield had remarkable magical powers of prophesy. Once when a revenge expedition against the Cheyennes was contemplated, Rotten Belly was im- plored to lead the large Crow war party. He rolled his shield from a high pile of buffalo chips, promising that if the painted side fell next to the ground when the shield stopped rolling he would not proceed against the enemy; but if the painted side was up he would lead the expedition. The painted side was turned upward when the roUing shield stopped, and Rotten Belly led his people to a great victory over the Cheyennes on the Arkansas River. (Lowie. 1922. p. 408; 1956. pp. 230-236). The fur trader, Edwin T. Denig, who wrote a brief biographical sketch of Rotten Belly more than a century ago, described Rotten Belly's leadership of that expe- dition, but he did not mention the episode of the shield. (Denig.
1953. pp. 41-44).
Jim Beckwourth, the mulatto braggart who lived among the Crows for several years both before and after Rotten Belly's death, claimed that this shield prophesied Rotten Belly's own demise. Shortly before the battle with the Blackfoot in which Rotten Belly was killed, he placed his shield on some buffalo chips, saying, "If it rises, I shall die before I return to the village." The shield then appeared to rise, without visible means of support, to the height of Rotten Belly's head. Beckwourth claimed that as Rotten Belly lay dying of wounds received in the subsequent con- flict, he gave his magic shield to him. (Bonner. 1856. pp. 218-221).
The Rotten Belly shield in the museum collections consists of an outer cover of undecorated buckskin; an elaborately painted buckskin inner cover, and a circular rawhide base, 24" in diameter and I" thick, painted solid red. The rawhide base, with both covers removed, is shown in Fig. 32.
The very strikingly decorated inner cover appears in full color as the Frontispiece of this monograph. As Grandmother's Knife told Lowie, the black, conventionalized figure painted on this cover is remarkable for the fact that its ears are "disproportionately large." Also unusual are the treatment of the eyes, mouth, head ornament, and the eleven chevrons painted in red on the body. The figure appears to show no marked sexual characteristics. If it re-
SHIELDS 73
presents the moon, as Wildschut was told that it did, it might be either male or female.
Attached to the cover, and hiding part of the left side of the painted figure, is the head and body of a crane in a partial wrap- ping of red flannel. Tied to the cover on the upper right is a single eagle feather, and at the lower right a deer's tail, both partially covered with red flannel.
There can be no doubt that the decoration of this shield is as unique as is its fame among the Crow Indians — JCE].
MINIATURE SHIELDS FIGURES 33 AND 34
Two miniature shields of stone were obtained in 1927 from Pretty-on-Top. (cat. nos. 15/3267 and 15/3370). These medicines originated in a dream of Pretty-on-Top 's father, Little Head. The story of their origin was obtained from Wolf, to whom one of these shields was transferred, but who gave it back to Pretty-on-Top after the stone was accidentally broken.
Little Head was for a time employed as an army scout and received from the commanding officer, known to the Crow Indians as "Three Stars" [General George Crook], a red shirt. A red shirt or red sash was apparently given to those Indians who did scout duty for the army in the early days in order to distinguish them from hostile Indians whom the soldiers might meet. After leaving the army. Little Head sacrificed this shirt to the "Without Fires" by tying it to a pole and leaving it to the elements. Some time later, while traveling with a party of friends through the Wolf Mountains, and while camped for the night, he had a dream. In this dream a white-haired old man, light-complected {i.e a white man), appeared to him. The old man was seated in the center ring of stones in the medicine- wheel on top of Medicine Mountain. And he motioned to Little Head to approach and see him.^^
A few days later camp was moved close to the mountains. It was fall and the berries were ripening. While other members of the camp were gathering berries, Little Head set out to fast. He climbed to the top of Medicine Mountain and chose as his fasting place the
'1 S. C. Simms described and illustrated this medicine-wheel, located in the Big Horn Range in Wyoming, just south of the Montana boundary. Many Crow Indians are said to have gone there to seek visions. (Simms. 1903. pp. loyff.).
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center circle of the medicine-wheel. During the third night of his fast Little Head was rewarded with a vision in which the same old man appeared to him, riding a bay horse with a long neck and wide-spreading ears. He was a considerable distance from Little Head and appeared to be riding around in a valley near Stinking Hill, Garvin Basin, Big Horn Mountains. The man was battling with pine trees. From the branches of every tree issued puffs of smoke, Uke bullets from the barrel of a gun. However, the bullets fell harmlessly at his side and did not hurt the man on horseback. Little Head noticed that the man's body was made of rock. Round his neck he wore a miniature shield made of stone.
Upon his return to camp Little Head made four stone shields. Two of them are now lost. The others were obtained by the writer and are represented in Figs. 33 and 34. These are the only shields of this kind known to the Crows.
The smaller of these two shields (cat. no. 15/3370) is but 2J" in diameter and ^" thick. The cover of this shield is of buckskin, decorated with a band of blue seed beads symboUzing the distant mountain top on which Little Head fasted and which appears blue and hazy from a distance. The center of the shield is painted blue to represent the sky. The yellow bead sewn on the top center portion of the cover indicates the bullets which cannot penetrate the stone behind it, and which is believed to be the visionary's invulnerable body. The transparent green trade beads suspended from the shield were chosen to represent rain, which in turn shows that the bullets aimed at the owner of this medicine will be as harmless to him as rain from the sky. The black beads with white spots s5mibolize hail. The small red plume suspended from the long cord at the bottom of the shield represents the rainbow. The horse tracks incised on the stone are charms to bring success in obtaining horses.
Little Head recognized the old man who gave him his medicine as the personification of rocks in general. In the same clan as the rocks are also the sky, the rain, hail and rainbow. Hence all of them are represented in this small medicine.
The larger of these shields (cat. no. 15/3267) is 4" in diameter. As shown in Fig. 34, the stone was broken and repaired. This shield has essentially the same symbolic meaning as the smaller one. It differs only in the coloring of the cover, which is painted in two shades of green. The dark green was appUed by rubbing the essence of a certain water plant on the cover. That plant belongs
SHIELDS 75
to the same clan as the rain. The light green, applied in similar fashion, symbolizes the earth which is also of the same clan as the other powers represented in the medicine. The small skin pouch suspended below the shield contains herbs used in the ritual of this medicine shield. Wolf did not know the significance of the 9 small brass bells.
Little Head's medicine was eventually the cause of his death. He believed that his body was like rock and impervious to bullets. It is said that on many occasions he proved the strength of this medicine by placing a loaded revolver against different parts of his body or head, and pulling the trigger. After these performances no wound could be seen nor did he appear to have been hurt in any way.
However, a number of years ago, while drunk. Little Head attempted to give one of these demonstrations of his invulner- ability. He put the muzzle of a revolver in his mouth, pulled the trigger, and blew off the top of his head, d5dng immediately. The official verdict was suicide. But the Indians told the writer that because he was drunk Little Head's medicine would not protect him.32
^2 Lowie (1922. pp. 402-418) described a number of Crow shields and illustrated five of them. However, he neither described nor illustrated any miniature shields.
SKULL MEDICINE BUNDLES
Although other bundles of the Crow Indians overshadow l\ the skull medicine bundle in importance and power, none jL jL except the sun dance bundle equals it in sacredness. It required three years of negotiation from the time the writer first heard of the existence of a skull bundle to procure the first speci- men of this type thus far obtained. The existence of these bundles has always been kept such a secret that no mention of them has been made in any previous writings on the Crows. However, not aU skull bundles are medicine objects.
The origin of skull bundles is accounted for as f oUows :
From time immemorial the Crows buried their dead in the branches of trees, on scaffolds, or in rock shelters; for the idea of interment was repugnant to them. It still is (1927) among the older living members of the tribe.
From time to time a relative visited the burial place of the dead and prayed to the spirits of the departed. Time and the ele- ments ultimately wore away the wrappings with which the body was enshrouded, thus exposing the bones and skull. When this happened, a near relative sometimes took the skull home, wrapped it carefully, and preserved it, thereby partially filling the void created by the departed.^
It also happened that the possessor of such a skull would re- ceive in his or her dream a vision wherein the skull would appear, again assuming the living form of the deceased. In this dream the spirit would inform the possessor of a certain ceremony attending the opening of the bundle. In this case the skull became a medicine bundle and could be used to inform the owners of many things.
33 An old photograph of a Crow Indian tree burial, showing the skull exposed to the elements, is reproduced as Fig. 35. In 1862 Robert Meldrum stated that at the end of one or two years after burial the Crows customarily removed the clean and odorless bones from the tree or scaffold, tied them in a bundle, and carried them to the mountains where they w*ere reburied in rock clefts or crevices where they would be sheltered from the snow and rain. (Morgan. 1959. p. 171). This certainly indicates that the Crows had no fear of handling the bones of their dead. However, Meldrum did not mention their retention of skulls as medicines.
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SKULL MEDICINE BUNDLES 77
The use of the bundle was dependant upon the instructions re- ceived in the dream.
A relative might also take possession of a skull, hoping that it would give him or her a desired vision and thus become this individual's medicine. This happened most frequently in cases involving the skulls of persons who were known to have had ghosts or spirits as their medicine while they were living. With the same purpose in view, the skull of a great medicine man might be preserved.
THE BRAIDED TAIL SKULL MEDICINE BUNDLE FIGURE 36
One of the best-known skull medicine bundles of the Crows was the one containing the skull of Braided Tail, one of the most famous medicine men in the history of his tribe. Since this skull was said to have been handed down for five or six generations, Braided Tail's death may have occurred one hundred and fifty or more years ago {i.e. before 1780). The wife of Old Alligator last used this skull as a medicine. After her death it passed to her husband, who died in December, 1921. A few days later the bundle came into the possession of the writer. It is now cat. no. 11/6452 in the museum collections.
Braided Tail's skull was used for various purposes, and it became a true oracle to its successive possessors. In time of war, after due consultation attended by the necessary ceremony con- sisting of song singing and the burning of incense, the skull would "inform" the possessor of the proximity of the enemy. It would tell which part of the country would be safe from unexpected attack. When a battle was unavoidable the bundle would give in- formation as to the number of men destined to be killed, and the exact situation of the battleground. In time of famine it would inform the possessor of the whereabouts of game. A sick person could consult this skull and be told by it whether he or she was going to die or whether the patient should make the necessary expenditure for the consultation of a doctor. It was consulted also for the recovery of lost or stolen property. Indeed, the information given through consultation with this skull was never know to fail. Thus, in time it came to be known as one of the most sacred and most potent bundles among the Crows.
Some years ago the wife of Old Alligator became seriously ill. No amount of doctoring seemed to do her any good. During her
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illness she again consulted the skull to determine whether her health might possibly be restored by parting with any more of her property for doctor's services. The skull informed her that it would be useless to make any further expenditure, for her life was soon to end and her soul would shortly start on its journey to the "Other Side Camp." Thereafter, this woman would accept no more treatment by a doctor, and she soon died.
With her, unfortunately, went the knowledge of the songs and ritual attending the opening and consultation of this bundle. After her death her husband. Old Alligator, kept the bundle and occa- sionally opened it. Indians present as such times would make him some gifts and would present something, such as beads or tobacco, to the skull as well. They prayed to it, asking it to give them good health and long life, or expressing such desires as they wished to have fulfilled. As a really effective medicine bundle or oracle, however, this skull was used no more after the death of Old Alligator's wife.^
[Fig. 36 shows the skull of Braided Tail along with the other contents of this bundle, which include several plugs of tobacco and many strings of large-sized and varicolored trade beads which had been presented to the skull by Indians who had faith in the potency of its medicine. These items and the skull were wrapped in pieces of trade cloth. All were contained in a large, soft-skin sack. — JCE]