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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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