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HEADDRESSES PLAINS INDIANS |
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CAP ~ HAT ~ ROACH | |||||
The most common type of cap in use on the northern Plains was a wide band of otter fur which encircled the head like a crown. The top was left open, and if a warrior wished he could place an eagle feather in his scalp lock and let it stick up through the cap. The tail of the otter was attached to the rear of the cap in such a way as to hang down the warrior's back. Sometimes the edges of the cap and tail were beaded, and a tuft of dyed horsehair was appended to the end of the tail. Four round, beaded targets were also attached to the wide band of the cap for decoration. |
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While some of the southern tribes wore a slight variation of the cap just described, the hat most unique to the southeast had a huge hide triangle, with beaded or painted symbols on it, which extended out to the left or right side of the wide headband. These were really stunning creations, and the bold symbols, which depicted many of the warrior's accomplishments, were arranged in excellent compositions. Such hats were worn by the Pawnee, Ponca, Osage, and Oto warriors. |
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The roach headdress was, for the most part, an ornament worn by dancers, but the Omaha warriors wore a roach made of a deer's tail and turkey neck hair, dyed red, to designate one who had won first-coup honors. The warriors of other tribes made their roaches with stiff moose hairs, porcupine hairs, and the white hairs from a deer's tail, and when finished they stood erect, like a trimmed horse's mane, on the top and back of the warrior's head. Some were dyed in splendid colors such as orange and purple, and the Sioux dance roach was usually white and yellow with black tips. |
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Thomas E. Mails, Mystic Warriors of the Plains | |||||
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MAKING A ROACH... | |||||
To make a roach, the Indian warrior gathered the strands of hair, which were about twelve inches long, into bunches about one eighth of an inch in diameter. He folded each bunch in half and tied it just above the bend, leaving a small loop at the base. Then he sewed the bunches onto the edge of a foundation, side by side in three or four rows. The foundation was made either of skin or braided cloth, and was long and oval-shaped at the front, and rather pointed at the rear end. |
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NEXT - Animal's Skin Headdresses |
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