Plains Indian Child’s Beaded Hide Robe

Arapahoe, possibly Southern Cheyenne

Circa 1870 | Hide, Glass Beads, Tin, Quill | Item 2543

This is an early and rare example of a child’s beaded robe. The beauty of this robe comes from its understated simplicity. The isolated beaded strip has much power, sitting alone on a hide only colored with yellow ochre. The tapering at each end of the beaded strip gives it all the more power as it integrates into the hide.

The robe is brain tanned antelope or small deer with seed beads, dating between 1860 and 1870. Such items are extremely rare and were made only for the childern of members of the tribe who were “high status”, or the child of a tribal chief. The small seed beads are in white, black, dark blue, clear green, clear red, greasy yellow, and red with white hearts. The beads are sinew sewn directly onto the hide. There are four medallions all connected to a band of beads that comes to a taper at each end. Each medallion has two hide strips wrapped in quill terminating with a tin cone. On the far right side are two beaded hide balls, each with three hide strips that are quilled and end with a tin cone. The entire surface is colored with yellow ochre. There are small areas where the holes in the hide have been mended with sinew in the classic splicing technique used in the earlier period.