Native American Gallery

Quiver and Bow Case with Arrows, Warshirt, and Quirt
Sioux, about 1860
Collected by Lt. Lee Alexander at Fort Rice, N.D., about 1873
Museum Purchase 1937.69.7, 1937.69.5, 1937.69.10

This group of objects is very unusual because all of the pieces originally belonged to one individual. It is believed that the collector, Lieutenant Lee Alexander, purchased the ensemble at Fort Rice, North Dakota around 1873. The price paid for the grouping was 100 ponies. Probably the work of a single artist, the ensemble features coordinating colored beads and geometric patterns.
Warshirts primarily served an honorary purpose, and the symbols that decorate such a shirt document the military skills and exploits of its warrior-owner. The handprint design on this warshirt is one of the oldest symbols in North American art. A black hand is usually interpreted as a sign that the wearer had slain his enemy while a red hand signified that the wearer himself had been injured. Handprints could also signify hand-to-hand combat, the most admired form of battle. The number of stripes on an article of clothing sometimes recorded the number of battles in which the warrior fought. Stripes were also a way to count “coups,” the times a warrior’s hand touched his enemy in battle. This was the greatest disgrace for the enemy and the ultimate achievement for the warrior.