Cradle or Baby Carrier

c. 1900
Location: not on view
Public Domain
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Did You Know?

In the past, young Plains children spent much of their time in cradles, which remain in occasional use today.

Description

Many Plains peoples hold lavishly quilled or beaded cradles in high esteem—they bestow spiritual benefits on the infant and prestige and honor on the family and the maker, usually a female relative. Indeed, today and in the past, creating such a cradle is often regarded as equal to counting coup, the ultimate act of male bravery in which a warrior touches an enemy with a stick known as a coup stick. This cradle was held in the arms; others have wooden frames that can be propped against a support, such as a sofa or a tree, to ease the baby’s socialization into the community.
Cradle or Baby Carrier

Cradle or Baby Carrier

c. 1900

Native North America, Plains, Lakota (Sioux)

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