Tweet
According to Norman Feder,
“...grizzly claw necklaces were apparently never vary numerous within any one tribe because of the difficulty in obtaining the claws.”
(Feder & Chandler, 1961, p. 7)
Even at a time when the great plains family of the grizzly bear species was abundant, it was difficult to hunt the animal. An early writer in the 1838 to 1840 period states,
“This famous grizzly bear is so ferocious that when the Osage wish to attack it, they raise a war party often fifty men strong”...“The victorious hunter is entitled to wear a necklace made with it’s claws.”
(Tixier, 1940, p. 248)
A common style of making the grizzly bear claw necklace among the Ponca, Osage, Iowa, Kaw, Omaha, Pawnee, Otoe and Missouri tribes has been described by Norman Feder as,
“...claws with double perforation, mounted on a core and covered with otter fur”...“a core that forms a continuous circle, and a tail composed of a separate otter skin pendant down the back.”
(Feder & Chandler, 1961, p. 11)
In addition, Thomas Mails makes reference to grizzly claw necklaces in “The Mystic Warriors of the Plains,” when he writes,
“The combined otter skin and bear claw necklaces”... “were made with broad bands of otter skin, and the long tail of the swift and cunning otter was arranged to hang down the center of the warrior’s back.”
(Mails, 1972, p. 372)
In most claw necklaces still in museum collections, there are an average of 40 claws in a necklace of this type, and usually only the longer front claws were used as the grizzly bear hind claws are much shorter. Large glass trade beads are often used as spacers between the claws, strung halfway down the claw at the secondary perforation alluded to above.
In latter years, with the depletion of the Great Plains Grizzly Bear (now extinct), many tribes made claw necklaces from Rocky Mountain Grizzly Bear, or from carved elk antler. In fact, as an example of how they became so popular, one of these grizzly claw necklaces made from carved elkhorn and collected at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas as early as 1838, is on display at the American Museum of Natural History.
Historically among the Ponca, as an example, it was usually notable warriors who gained the honor and right to wear a Grizzly Bear Claw Necklace. Either by killing two or more Grizzly Bears and making a necklace of the claws, or by killing an enemy warrior who wore a Grizzly Bear Claw Necklace, thus giving you the right to wear his. (Abe Conklin, 1986)
While seen occasionally among straight dancers today, the Grizzly Bear Claw Necklace may not have the same meaning associated with it's use back in the day.
Some examples:
Mesquakie
Necklace of the Iowa Chief called The White Cloud, displayed by the Iowa tribe of Kansas and Nebraska in their museum.
The White Cloud painted by George Catlin in 1845
Mesquakie - 1860 (Courtesy of the National Museum of the American Indian)
Carved Elk Antler necklace
Ashworth, Kenneth Albert.
1986. The Contemporary Oklahoma Pow-wow. Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma.
Baird, W. David.
1989. The Quapaws. Chelsea House Publishers, New York, NY.
Bailey, Garrick, and Daniel Swan.
2004. Art of the Osage. St. Louis Art Museum, University of Washington Press, Seattle, WA.
Barrett, Jay Amos.
1898. Ponca Indians. Proceedings and Collections of the Nebraska State Historical Society, 2nd Series, Vol. 2, NE.
Barth, Georg J.
1993. Native American Beadwork. R. Schneider Publishers, Stevens Point, WI.
Callahan, Alice A.
1990. The Osage Ceremonial Dance, I’n-Lon-Schka. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
Cash, Joseph H. and Gerald W. Wolff.
1975. The Ponca People. Indian Tribal Series, Phoenix, AZ.
Catlin, George
1841. Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs and Traditions of North American Indians. 2 Volumes, Tosswill & Myers, London, England. (Reprinted as Letters and Notes on the North American Indian. Ross and Haynes, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, 1965)
Connelley, William E.
1918. Notes on the Early Indian Occupancy of the Great Plains. Kansas State Historical Society Collections, 1915-1918, Vol. 14.
Denig, Edwin T.
1961. Five Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
Dorsey, George Amos.
1904-a. Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee. Memoirs, American Folk-lore Society, Vol. 8.
1904-b. Traditions of the Osage. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL.
Dorsey, Rev. James Owen
1883. The Religion of the Omahas and Ponkas. American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal, Vol. 5, January-October, James & Morse Publishers, Chicago, IL.
1884-a. Omaha Sociology. Bureau of American Ethnology, 3rd Annual Report 1881-82, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1884-b. An Account of the War Customs of the Osages, Given by Red Corn (Hapa-se), of the Tsi-u Peace-making Gens. American Naturalist, Vol. 18.
1894. A Study of Siouian Cults. Bureau of American Ethnology, 11th Annual Report 1889-90, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1897. Siouian Sociology. Bureau of American Ethnology, 15th Annual Report 1893-94, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Dorsey, Rev. James Owen and Cyrus Thomas.
1907. Iowa. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30, Part 2, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
1910. Ponca. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30, Part 2, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Duncan, Jim.
1997. Hethushka Zani: An Ethnohistory of the War Dance Complex. MA thesis. Department of Anthropology, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK.
Ellis, Clyde.
2003. A Dancing People: Powwow Culture on the Southern Plains. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, KS.
Feder, Norman.
1957-a. Costume of the Oklahoma Straight Dancer. The American Indian Hobbyist Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 1.
1957-b. Costume of the Oklahoma Straight Dancer. The American Indian Hobbyist Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 2.
Feder, Norman and Milford G. Chandler.
1961. Grizzly Claw Necklaces. American Indian Tradition Newsletter, Vol. 8, No. 1.
Heth, Charlotte, ed.
1992. Native American Dance: Ceremonies and Social Traditions. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
Howard, Dr. James H.
1955. The Pan-Indian Culture in Oklahoma. The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 81, No. 5.
1965. The Ponca Tribe. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 195, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
1976. Ceremonial Dress of the Delaware Man. Special Issue, The Bulletin of the Archeological Society of New Jersey, No. 33, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ.
1983. Pan-Indianism in Native American Music and Dance. Ethnomusicology, Vol. 28, No. 1.
Howard, Dr. James H. and Gertrude P. Kurath.
1959. Ponca Dances, Ceremonies and Music. Ethnomusicology, Vol. 7.
Hyde, George E.
1951. The Pawnee Indians. University of Denver Press, Denver, CO.
Jablow, Joseph.
1974. Ethnohistory of the Ponca. Garland Publishing Inc., New York.
Johnson, Tim. Ed.
1998. Spirit Capture: Photographs from the National Museum of the American Indian. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C.
Kavanagh, Thomas W.
1992. Southern Plains Dance Tradition and Dynamics: Native American Dance Ceremonies and Social Traditions. National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution with Starwood, Washington D.C.
LaFave, Edward J.
1998. Straight Dance Clothing: How to Dress a Straight Dancer. Whispering Wind: American Indian Past & Present Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 4, Folsom, LA.
LaFlesche, Francis.
1914-a. Osage Songs and Rituals. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections and Explorations, Vol. 65, No. 6, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1914-b. Ceremonies and Rituals of the Osage. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Volume 63, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1918-a. The Osage Tribe: Rite of the Chiefs, Sayings of the Ancient Men. Bureau of American Ethnology, 39th Annual Report 1917-18, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1918-b. Tribal rites of Osage Indians. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 68, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1924. Ethnology of the Osage Indians. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 76, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1939. War Ceremony and Peace Ceremony of the Osage Indians. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 101, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Mathews, John Joseph.
1932. Wa’-Kon-Tah, The Osage and the White Man’s Road. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
1961. The Osages: Children of the Middle Waters. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
Lowie, Robert H.
1916. Plains Indian Age Societies: Historical and Comparative Study. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 11, Part 13, New York, NY.
Lowie, Robert H., Ed. Clark Wissler.
1916. Societies of the Plains Indians. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 9, New York, NY.
Mails, Thomas E.
1972. The Mystic Warriors of the Plains. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.
1985. Plains Indians: Dog Soldiers, Bear Men and Buffalo Women. Bonanza Books, New York.
Meadows, William.
1999. Kiowa, Apache and Comanche Military Societies. University of Texas Press, Austin, TX.
Murie, James R.
1914. Pawnee Indian Societies. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 11, No. 7, New York, NY.
Orchard, William C.
1929. Bead and Beadwork of the American Indians. Contributions from the Museum of the American Indian, Vol. 11, Heye Foundation, New York, NY.
Sebbelov, Gerda.
1911. The Osage War Dance. The Museum Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3.
Skinner, Alanson B.
1915-a. Societies of the Iowa, Kansa and Ponca Indians. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 11, Part 9, New York, NY.
1915-b. Kansa Organizations. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 11, New York, NY.
1915-c. Ponca Societies and Dances. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 11, New York, NY.
Smith, Jerry.
1982. Straight Dance Clothes: Getting Them On. Moccasin Tracks Magazine, April Issue, LaPalma, CA.
Stewart, Tyronne H.
1968. Dressing a Straight Dancer. The Singing Wire Newsletter, February Issue.
Swanton, John R.
1910. Osage. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30, Part 2, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Thomas, Cyrus.
1910. Quapaw. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30, Part 2, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Thompson, Edwin.
1928. The Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri. Bureau of American Ethnology, 46th Annual Report 1924-25, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Tibbles, Thomas H.
1887. The Ponca Chiefs. J.S. Lockwood, Boston, MA.
Tixier, Victor.
1940. Tixier’s Travels on the Osage Prairies. Translated from the French by Albert J. Salvan, and edited by John Francis McDermott. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
Unrau, William.
1971. The Kansa Indians: The History of the Wind People. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
Wissler, Clark.
1906. Diffusion of Culture in the Plains of North America. Proceedings of the International Congress of Americanists, Vol. 15, Quebec, Canada.
1915. Costumes of the Plains Indians. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 17, No.2, New York.
“...grizzly claw necklaces were apparently never vary numerous within any one tribe because of the difficulty in obtaining the claws.”
(Feder & Chandler, 1961, p. 7)
Even at a time when the great plains family of the grizzly bear species was abundant, it was difficult to hunt the animal. An early writer in the 1838 to 1840 period states,
“This famous grizzly bear is so ferocious that when the Osage wish to attack it, they raise a war party often fifty men strong”...“The victorious hunter is entitled to wear a necklace made with it’s claws.”
(Tixier, 1940, p. 248)
A common style of making the grizzly bear claw necklace among the Ponca, Osage, Iowa, Kaw, Omaha, Pawnee, Otoe and Missouri tribes has been described by Norman Feder as,
“...claws with double perforation, mounted on a core and covered with otter fur”...“a core that forms a continuous circle, and a tail composed of a separate otter skin pendant down the back.”
(Feder & Chandler, 1961, p. 11)
In addition, Thomas Mails makes reference to grizzly claw necklaces in “The Mystic Warriors of the Plains,” when he writes,
“The combined otter skin and bear claw necklaces”... “were made with broad bands of otter skin, and the long tail of the swift and cunning otter was arranged to hang down the center of the warrior’s back.”
(Mails, 1972, p. 372)
In most claw necklaces still in museum collections, there are an average of 40 claws in a necklace of this type, and usually only the longer front claws were used as the grizzly bear hind claws are much shorter. Large glass trade beads are often used as spacers between the claws, strung halfway down the claw at the secondary perforation alluded to above.
In latter years, with the depletion of the Great Plains Grizzly Bear (now extinct), many tribes made claw necklaces from Rocky Mountain Grizzly Bear, or from carved elk antler. In fact, as an example of how they became so popular, one of these grizzly claw necklaces made from carved elkhorn and collected at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas as early as 1838, is on display at the American Museum of Natural History.
Historically among the Ponca, as an example, it was usually notable warriors who gained the honor and right to wear a Grizzly Bear Claw Necklace. Either by killing two or more Grizzly Bears and making a necklace of the claws, or by killing an enemy warrior who wore a Grizzly Bear Claw Necklace, thus giving you the right to wear his. (Abe Conklin, 1986)
While seen occasionally among straight dancers today, the Grizzly Bear Claw Necklace may not have the same meaning associated with it's use back in the day.
Some examples:
Mesquakie
Necklace of the Iowa Chief called The White Cloud, displayed by the Iowa tribe of Kansas and Nebraska in their museum.
The White Cloud painted by George Catlin in 1845
Mesquakie - 1860 (Courtesy of the National Museum of the American Indian)
Carved Elk Antler necklace
Ashworth, Kenneth Albert.
1986. The Contemporary Oklahoma Pow-wow. Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma.
Baird, W. David.
1989. The Quapaws. Chelsea House Publishers, New York, NY.
Bailey, Garrick, and Daniel Swan.
2004. Art of the Osage. St. Louis Art Museum, University of Washington Press, Seattle, WA.
Barrett, Jay Amos.
1898. Ponca Indians. Proceedings and Collections of the Nebraska State Historical Society, 2nd Series, Vol. 2, NE.
Barth, Georg J.
1993. Native American Beadwork. R. Schneider Publishers, Stevens Point, WI.
Callahan, Alice A.
1990. The Osage Ceremonial Dance, I’n-Lon-Schka. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
Cash, Joseph H. and Gerald W. Wolff.
1975. The Ponca People. Indian Tribal Series, Phoenix, AZ.
Catlin, George
1841. Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs and Traditions of North American Indians. 2 Volumes, Tosswill & Myers, London, England. (Reprinted as Letters and Notes on the North American Indian. Ross and Haynes, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, 1965)
Connelley, William E.
1918. Notes on the Early Indian Occupancy of the Great Plains. Kansas State Historical Society Collections, 1915-1918, Vol. 14.
Denig, Edwin T.
1961. Five Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
Dorsey, George Amos.
1904-a. Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee. Memoirs, American Folk-lore Society, Vol. 8.
1904-b. Traditions of the Osage. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL.
Dorsey, Rev. James Owen
1883. The Religion of the Omahas and Ponkas. American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal, Vol. 5, January-October, James & Morse Publishers, Chicago, IL.
1884-a. Omaha Sociology. Bureau of American Ethnology, 3rd Annual Report 1881-82, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1884-b. An Account of the War Customs of the Osages, Given by Red Corn (Hapa-se), of the Tsi-u Peace-making Gens. American Naturalist, Vol. 18.
1894. A Study of Siouian Cults. Bureau of American Ethnology, 11th Annual Report 1889-90, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1897. Siouian Sociology. Bureau of American Ethnology, 15th Annual Report 1893-94, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Dorsey, Rev. James Owen and Cyrus Thomas.
1907. Iowa. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30, Part 2, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
1910. Ponca. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30, Part 2, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Duncan, Jim.
1997. Hethushka Zani: An Ethnohistory of the War Dance Complex. MA thesis. Department of Anthropology, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK.
Ellis, Clyde.
2003. A Dancing People: Powwow Culture on the Southern Plains. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, KS.
Feder, Norman.
1957-a. Costume of the Oklahoma Straight Dancer. The American Indian Hobbyist Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 1.
1957-b. Costume of the Oklahoma Straight Dancer. The American Indian Hobbyist Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 2.
Feder, Norman and Milford G. Chandler.
1961. Grizzly Claw Necklaces. American Indian Tradition Newsletter, Vol. 8, No. 1.
Heth, Charlotte, ed.
1992. Native American Dance: Ceremonies and Social Traditions. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
Howard, Dr. James H.
1955. The Pan-Indian Culture in Oklahoma. The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 81, No. 5.
1965. The Ponca Tribe. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 195, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
1976. Ceremonial Dress of the Delaware Man. Special Issue, The Bulletin of the Archeological Society of New Jersey, No. 33, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ.
1983. Pan-Indianism in Native American Music and Dance. Ethnomusicology, Vol. 28, No. 1.
Howard, Dr. James H. and Gertrude P. Kurath.
1959. Ponca Dances, Ceremonies and Music. Ethnomusicology, Vol. 7.
Hyde, George E.
1951. The Pawnee Indians. University of Denver Press, Denver, CO.
Jablow, Joseph.
1974. Ethnohistory of the Ponca. Garland Publishing Inc., New York.
Johnson, Tim. Ed.
1998. Spirit Capture: Photographs from the National Museum of the American Indian. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C.
Kavanagh, Thomas W.
1992. Southern Plains Dance Tradition and Dynamics: Native American Dance Ceremonies and Social Traditions. National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution with Starwood, Washington D.C.
LaFave, Edward J.
1998. Straight Dance Clothing: How to Dress a Straight Dancer. Whispering Wind: American Indian Past & Present Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 4, Folsom, LA.
LaFlesche, Francis.
1914-a. Osage Songs and Rituals. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections and Explorations, Vol. 65, No. 6, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1914-b. Ceremonies and Rituals of the Osage. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Volume 63, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1918-a. The Osage Tribe: Rite of the Chiefs, Sayings of the Ancient Men. Bureau of American Ethnology, 39th Annual Report 1917-18, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1918-b. Tribal rites of Osage Indians. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 68, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1924. Ethnology of the Osage Indians. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 76, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1939. War Ceremony and Peace Ceremony of the Osage Indians. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 101, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Mathews, John Joseph.
1932. Wa’-Kon-Tah, The Osage and the White Man’s Road. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
1961. The Osages: Children of the Middle Waters. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
Lowie, Robert H.
1916. Plains Indian Age Societies: Historical and Comparative Study. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 11, Part 13, New York, NY.
Lowie, Robert H., Ed. Clark Wissler.
1916. Societies of the Plains Indians. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 9, New York, NY.
Mails, Thomas E.
1972. The Mystic Warriors of the Plains. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.
1985. Plains Indians: Dog Soldiers, Bear Men and Buffalo Women. Bonanza Books, New York.
Meadows, William.
1999. Kiowa, Apache and Comanche Military Societies. University of Texas Press, Austin, TX.
Murie, James R.
1914. Pawnee Indian Societies. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 11, No. 7, New York, NY.
Orchard, William C.
1929. Bead and Beadwork of the American Indians. Contributions from the Museum of the American Indian, Vol. 11, Heye Foundation, New York, NY.
Sebbelov, Gerda.
1911. The Osage War Dance. The Museum Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3.
Skinner, Alanson B.
1915-a. Societies of the Iowa, Kansa and Ponca Indians. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 11, Part 9, New York, NY.
1915-b. Kansa Organizations. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 11, New York, NY.
1915-c. Ponca Societies and Dances. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 11, New York, NY.
Smith, Jerry.
1982. Straight Dance Clothes: Getting Them On. Moccasin Tracks Magazine, April Issue, LaPalma, CA.
Stewart, Tyronne H.
1968. Dressing a Straight Dancer. The Singing Wire Newsletter, February Issue.
Swanton, John R.
1910. Osage. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30, Part 2, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Thomas, Cyrus.
1910. Quapaw. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30, Part 2, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Thompson, Edwin.
1928. The Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri. Bureau of American Ethnology, 46th Annual Report 1924-25, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Tibbles, Thomas H.
1887. The Ponca Chiefs. J.S. Lockwood, Boston, MA.
Tixier, Victor.
1940. Tixier’s Travels on the Osage Prairies. Translated from the French by Albert J. Salvan, and edited by John Francis McDermott. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
Unrau, William.
1971. The Kansa Indians: The History of the Wind People. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
Wissler, Clark.
1906. Diffusion of Culture in the Plains of North America. Proceedings of the International Congress of Americanists, Vol. 15, Quebec, Canada.
1915. Costumes of the Plains Indians. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 17, No.2, New York.
Comment