THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 



ceremony founded upon the belief in the coming of a Mes- 

 siah, which resulted in the tragic death, on December 15, 

 1890, of Sitting Bull, and which terminated with the mas- 

 sacre of Wounded Knee on December 29 of the same year. 

 These garments, bearing decorative symbolic designs, were 

 worn by all the participants in the Ghost Dance and were 

 believed by them to be bullet proof. 



From the Crow Indians are the regalia worn by the mem- 

 bers of secret organizations known as the Big Dog Society, 

 Military Society and Tobacco Society, as well as specimens 

 of their clothing and personal accessories handsomely 

 decorated with bead and quillwork. 



To those interested in studying the designs employed in 

 decorating material of various kinds, an inspection should 

 be made of the specimens from the Sarsi Indians. Their 

 designs usually consist of a simple geometrical element 

 combined in different colors to make the larger geometri- 

 cal design which is repeated several times. 



The Tower Room is devoted to the collections from the 

 Blackfoot Indians. Models, showing the method of pre- 

 paring the raw skin of the buffalo and deer, in all its vari- 

 ous processes, from the time of the killing of the animal 

 to the finished product, are exhibited, together with speci- 

 mens of clothing, utensils, implements and weapons used 

 in war and the chase. 



The western portion of the hall is given over to the col- 

 lections secured from the Gros Ventre, Arapaho, Nez 

 Perce, Cheyenne, Comanche, Kiowa, Ute and Shoshone. 



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