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Man's Shirt

Blackfeet

Not on view

This garment is a later version of a war shirt made in the mid-1800s by a Piegan-Blackfeet named Big Plume. He wore his shirt during several successful horse raids and battles with Crow Indians, and the piece became renowned for its protective power. Big Plume subsequently gave another warrior the right to make a copy of his special shirt, and this transfer of rights occurred many times. Although Three Calf received the right to produce this copy sometime in the early twentieth-century, he was not the sole maker. A woman beaded the triangular forms placed on the shoulders as well as the long neck lap.

Man's Shirt, Native-tanned leather, glass beads, pigment, ermine, Blackfeet

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