Many old photos of Ponca men show them wearing a breastplate necklace made of parallel rows of horizontally placed bone hairpipes. These would be strung together between leather spacers and tied around the neck so as to fall across the chest, hence the name.



For a detailed description on the history of hairpipes, go to:
Hair Pipes in Plains Indian Adornment by John C. Ewers
"Hair Pipes in Plains Indian Adornment" by John C. Ewers
Although not an essential part of the straight dance clothes, they are seen occasionally today on some dancers.
It is however, becoming more common to see the short versions of the bone hairpipe breastplate necklace on straight dancers from the Comanche, Southern Cheyenne and Kiowa, as well as straight dancers from other the deep southern plains tribes, extending only to just covering the upper chest. Often times this Southern style breastplate will have an added trade-silver “pectoral” ornament hanging beneath it. The design elements of these pectoral ornaments are said to have been taken from the silver breastworks seen on the horses of early Spanish Conquistadors. (Melvin Kerchee, Sr., Comanche, 1981)
German-silver Pectoral

Trailing the Enemy and wife - Kiowa - 1870

Nokoney – Comanche – 1870

Sitting In The Saddle - Kiowa - circa 1870

Buffalo Hump II – Comanche - 1872

Big Spotted Horse - Pawnee - 1875

Whirlwind – Southern Cheyenne – 1877

Big Snake - Ponca - 1877

Sauk & Fox man - circa 1880

Bacon Rind - Osage - 1880

Big Bow and other Kiowa men - 1880

White Eagle - Ponca - 1882

Group of Sauk & Fox - 1884

Wooden Lance - Kiowa - 1891

Mopa (son of Wooden Lance) - Kiowa - 1891

White Eagle, Standing Bear - Ponca - 1892

Quanah Parker – Comanche – 1892

Prairie Turtle - Otoe - 1894

Frank Corndropper, Paul Buffalo, and Pierce St. John - Osage - 1895

Hard Thinker - Sauk & Fox - 1896

Mean Bear, Going Though The World - Otoe - 1898

Comanche man – 1898

Kiowa man - 1898

Good Fox - Pawnee - 1902

Horse Chief - Ponca - 1906

Big Goose - Ponca - 1914

Quah-se-yah - Comanche - 1926



For a detailed description on the history of hairpipes, go to:
Hair Pipes in Plains Indian Adornment by John C. Ewers
"Hair Pipes in Plains Indian Adornment" by John C. Ewers
Although not an essential part of the straight dance clothes, they are seen occasionally today on some dancers.
It is however, becoming more common to see the short versions of the bone hairpipe breastplate necklace on straight dancers from the Comanche, Southern Cheyenne and Kiowa, as well as straight dancers from other the deep southern plains tribes, extending only to just covering the upper chest. Often times this Southern style breastplate will have an added trade-silver “pectoral” ornament hanging beneath it. The design elements of these pectoral ornaments are said to have been taken from the silver breastworks seen on the horses of early Spanish Conquistadors. (Melvin Kerchee, Sr., Comanche, 1981)
German-silver Pectoral

Trailing the Enemy and wife - Kiowa - 1870

Nokoney – Comanche – 1870

Sitting In The Saddle - Kiowa - circa 1870

Buffalo Hump II – Comanche - 1872

Big Spotted Horse - Pawnee - 1875

Whirlwind – Southern Cheyenne – 1877

Big Snake - Ponca - 1877

Sauk & Fox man - circa 1880

Bacon Rind - Osage - 1880

Big Bow and other Kiowa men - 1880

White Eagle - Ponca - 1882

Group of Sauk & Fox - 1884

Wooden Lance - Kiowa - 1891

Mopa (son of Wooden Lance) - Kiowa - 1891

White Eagle, Standing Bear - Ponca - 1892

Quanah Parker – Comanche – 1892

Prairie Turtle - Otoe - 1894

Frank Corndropper, Paul Buffalo, and Pierce St. John - Osage - 1895

Hard Thinker - Sauk & Fox - 1896

Mean Bear, Going Though The World - Otoe - 1898

Comanche man – 1898

Kiowa man - 1898

Good Fox - Pawnee - 1902

Horse Chief - Ponca - 1906

Big Goose - Ponca - 1914

Quah-se-yah - Comanche - 1926

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