tsuj510

Howdy Men.

I wanted to bring this topic up (yes again), as its been in the back of my mind for some time.

I have seen pictures of some N. Trad dancers wearing what looks like a calvary hat, as show on the page that populates in this hyperlink:

http://www.cowboyhatstore.com/stetson_cavalry/index.htm

The "Ft. Riley" is the version I have seen most often, and its usually worn with gauntlets..

I just wondered if anyone knew about this style. I know that some Nations have the right to wear these; I have seen the Hungry Wolf boys (Siksika) wearing them and wondered if anyone had the history behind this. Any feedback would be appreciated. I apologise if I am wrong, but don't the Cheyenne's have a similar deal, where they had captured a bugle and a soldier hat??

C'mon Historian-I know you got some good feedback for me ayyyyy!

Also, I saw in the PowWow Trail DVD Series, #1, a Trad Dancer with what appeared to be wings set as a headdress-never seen this before and thought it looked kind of different. Just wondered what style headdress that was.

Enjoy the weekend!

Historian

Among many Plains tribes, the individual warrior had a "right" to wear anything he "captured" or took from a enemy. Be it a feathered headdress, claw necklace, cavalry coat, or cavalry hat. These items, in a general sense, were believed to have spiritual power in them, so that when a person took the item from an enemy, they also gained the spiritual power by wearing it.

In some cases the items captured became the posession of the warrior society the warrior belonged to, but most times they became personal trophies of battle.

As to the rights to wearing that sort of thing today at Pow-Wows, I do not know what to tell you. Different tribes have different traditions. It would be odd for someone to wear a cavalry hat at a Pow-Wow, if he had not "captured it" himself. Perhaps an ancestor had captured it and passed it down to be worn as a family owned battle trophy. Or perhaps an existing warrior society owns a cavalry hat battle trophy and allows a member to wear it or use it. But it would again be odd for something like that to show up in a regular Pow-Wow setting.

Of course there is the possibility that some dancers have decided to wear a calvary hat to look different, to be cool, or to catch the judges eye and stand out in a crowd.

__________________

"Be good, be kind, help each other."
"Respect the ground, respect the drum, respect each other."
--Abe Conklin, Ponca/Osage (1926-1995)