Subject: warrior
Culture: Lakota Sioux
Setting: Sioux/Plains Wars, 1862-1890
Object: wapa ha war bonnet headdress
* Texas Hall of State
* Carnegie Museum of Natural History > Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians
Lakota, collected 1888
Sitting Bull, the renowned Lakota leader, may have owned this headress [SIC].
Only those who have accomplished much are entitled to wear the buffalo horn. (James R. Walker, 1912)
Immature Golden Eagle feathers (Aquila chrysaetos), buffalo horns (Bison bison), buffalo hide (Bison bison), Rough-legged Hawk primary feathers
(Buteo lagopus), commercial cotton canvas, commercial wool stroud, tanned hide, tinned metal, commercial cotton thread, adhesive, sinew"
* Carnegie Museum of Natural History > Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians
Lakota, Pine Ridge Reservation,
South Dakota ca. 1910
Tanned hide, adult Golden Eagle feather (Aquila chrysaetos), Great Horned Owl feather (Bubo virginianus), Crow feather (Corvus brachy...), glass, horsehair (Equus caballus), sinew, sealing wax, commercial wool stroud, commercial cotton, commercial dye"
* Carnegie Museum of Natural History > Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians
"HEADDRESS
Lakota, Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, ca. 1890s
Buffalo hide, hair, horn, and tail (Bison bison), immature Golden Eagle feather (Aquila chrysaetos), Great Horned Owl feather (Bubo virginianus), Red-tailed Hawk feather (Buteo ...), Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk wing and tail feather (Buteo ...), unidentified down feather, horsehair (Equus caballus), porcupine quill (... ...), tanned hide, rawhide, unidentified pitch, commercial wool-stroud, sinew, glass, commercial dye, paint"
* Carnegie Museum of Natural History > Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians
"HEADDRESS
Lakota, Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota ca. 1900
Buffalo hide, immature Golden Eagle feathers (Aquila chrysaetos), glass, horsehair (Equus caballus), glass, sealing wax, paint, commercial dye"
* Fort Worth Museum of Science and History > Native American Gallery
"Lakota War Bonnet
Golden eagle tail feathers, eagle down feathers, felt, porcupine quills, horse hair, gypsum, tin, pigment
Early 20th century"
* Fort Worth Museum of Science and History > Native American Gallery
"Gordon's Bonnet
Golden eagle tail feathers, eagle down feathers, felt, porcupine quills, horse hair, gypsum, tin, pigment
Early 20th century"
* Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology > Wiyohpiyata - Lakota Images of the Contested West
"EAGLES ARE MESSENGERS OF THE SPIRITS
Wanbli, the eagle, is the akicita (soldier, messenger) of the West Wind and Wakinyan (thunder beings). The spirit of the eagle watches over councils, hunters, war parties, and battles. This bonnet (wapa ha) of golden eagle feathers is said to have belonged to Hunkpapa Lakota warrior Rain in the Face (Iromagaja, 1835-1905), veteran of the Little Big Horn fight and many other battles. When worn, the fluttering of the tail feathers on bonnets attracted the attention of the wind spirits. Sometimes they brought bonnets and other war amulets (wotawe) to life during the heat of battle."
* Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology > Wiyohpiyata - Lakota Images of the Contested West
"LAKOTA DANCE HEADDRESS
The spirit of Tatanka, the buffalo, is present in their skulls and horns. Leaders and holy men wear bull buffalo horns, especially when dancing, to communicate with Tatanka, the spiritual guardian of family, virtue, and hunting ad the provider of food and clothing. This Lakota headdress, collected in 1897, was made after the buffalo were gone; the horns were taken from a domestic bull. They crown an assemblage that includes a red cloth and dyed horse hair trailer, feathers, brass bells, and a circular mirror, which deflects negative energies. The prominent use of symbolic colors yellow, red, blue, and green echoes the ledger drawings and many objects in this exhibit."
