Tobacco Bag
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.A Southern Arapaho woman created this tobacco bag and beaded it with Ghost Dance symbols. The turtles refer to Arapaho origin stories of the world’s beginnings. The Maltese cross within the circle represents the four sacred directions, and the pipe-and-stem motif recalls the sacred pipe and its association with prayer. Arapaho artists created only a few Ghost Dance tobacco bags, and these are among the most evocative within the tradition of the form.
Artwork Details
- Title: Tobacco Bag
- Date: ca. 1890
- Geography: United States, Oklahoma
- Culture: Southern Arapaho
- Medium: Native-tanned leather, glass and metal beads, pigment
- Dimensions: Length: 35 3/4 in. (90.8 cm)
Width: 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm) - Classifications: Hide-Containers, Beads-Containers
- Credit Line: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Purchase: the Donald D. Jones Fund for American Indian Art (2004.7)
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing