Hair Plates

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[Historian]

[Historian]

Crosses, brooches, pins, bracelets, rings, gorgets, and armbands are among the highly prized "trade silver" items in the 1600 and 1700s. By the early 1800s, Plains metalwork had developed, influenced by many factors. Native metalworkers fashioned rings, bracelets, hair plates, etc. by pounding coin silver and pieces of brass kettles. Hair plates fashioned in this manner were fairly common the Plains tribes. The early hair plate discs had a bar across a center hole, and later ones had a loop soldered to the back.

Tee-too-sah (aka Little Bluff) - Kiowa - 1834


With the introduction in 1868 of the first sheets of German silver, a non-ferrous alloy of copper, nickel and zinc, metalwork flourished among several tribes of the Plains, including the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Arapaho, Ute, Osage, Sauk & Fox, Omaha and Southern Cheyenne, which is reinforced by the following photos.

Bear Eating Acorns Up A Tree - Sauk & Fox - 1869


The Sea - Sauk & Fox - 1869


The Milky Way – Comanche – 1872


Big Mouth Hawk – Arapaho – 1872


Ute men - 1874


Omaha men - 1880


Bert Fremont with wives - Omaha - 1885


Running Fox (aka George Fox) - Omaha - 1885?


Ute - 1890



Although some sets of hairplates were made from brass or elk shoulder-blade, the most common hair plate discs, historically as well as today, are usually made of German silver or trade-silver, mounted on a leather strap or sewn to a wool broadcloth base.

As quoted in the article titled "Plains Indian Metalworking with Emphasis on Hair Plates", in 1820 an account of the Long expedition describes one Osage man as,

"…'following the custom of the nation of shaving the head, so as to leave only the back part and above, which is, as usual, ornamented with silver plates, brooches, and feathers'…" (Feder, 1962, p. 57)

In reference to hair plates, "WhoMe" posted the following on Powwows.com at 11-10-2004, 10:10 AM,

"Awl-hon-gya is a modern term for money in the Kiowa language. Before the Louisiana Purchase, Spain was still in power in the southern plains of what is now Texas. The Kiowa fought the Spanish, later the Mexicans and even later the Texans. In their raids, they collected coins from the Spanish, Mexicans and Texans. Because money was not originally a part of Indian culture, at first, it did not have monetary value. However, it did have aesthetic value. When pounded out, was used as hair ornaments by the Kiowa and other tribes.

The larger coins were pounded out into disks and were then imprinted with tribal designs - a technique that is still in use today by the Kiowa and other tribes. This artform is the signature of Southern Plains metalwork. These imprinted coins were mounted on leather and tied to the scalp lock of Kiowa warriors. They extended down the length of the wearer's back, to their heels.

Today, these 'Awl-hon-gya hairplates' are no longer tied to the scalp but are fastened to the neck of Kiowa traditional dancers. Silver coins are no longer used. Metalwork artisans now use German and nickel silver to make this style of 'dragger'."


German silver hairplates – Kiowa - 1850




In early times the set of silver hair plates were attached to the scalplock at the back of the head, whereas today the hair plates are fastened around the dancers neck so as to hang down the middle of the back, similar to an otter trailer. The silver hair plate discs range in size from an average of four inches across and graduating in size to a small one inch disc. The larger discs being at the top of the set with the smaller discs coming to the back of the heels, rarely touching the ground. Often a piece of horse tail is placed at the end of the set of hair plates. The popularity of hair plates are such today, that it is common to see Ponca Hethuska straight dancers and Osage Inlonshka straight dancers wearing a set of hair plates instead of the traditional otter trailer.

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