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Northern Plains / Blood or Blackfoot Boy's Shirt

Currency:USD Category:American Indian Art / Art - Bead Work Start Price:1,000.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 14,000.00 USD
Northern Plains / Blood or Blackfoot Boy's Shirt
Contact Brian Lebel's Old West Events prior to bidding if you have a lot inquiry.
Constructed of tanned and whitened hide, with extended flaps on the lower border, overlaid across the shoulders with a pair of narrow hide strips, finely sewn in white, greasy yellow, bright blue, and translucent red against a turquoise blue flat beaded ground, with a pattern of terraced triangles, alternating with crosses. Trimmed with long pendants of white winter ermine, possibly replaced, bound with red trade cloth and strung with bright blue globular glass beads. With rectangular canvas bib flat sewn in similar colors with checkered diamonds; edged (worn) pinkish velvet; traces of mineral pigment on the inside of the neck. The width across the arms 38 1/2".

American Indian Art magazine article from 1979, "Minipoka – Children of Plenty", by Paul Raczka, tells the history and stories of the Minipoka children who would have been the recipient of a shirt such as this. Though the translation of Minipoka differs slightly depending on the Native speaker, its meaning is essentially this – they are a class of favored children. These children are selected from birth to hold a position of high social status and are guaranteed an early introduction into ceremonial life. Often, the Minipoka is from a wealthy family and they remain a Minipoka throughout their lifetime. The rituals surrounding the birth and life of a Minipoka is complex, and this fine example from a private collection would have been a treasured item for a young boy.