Buffalo Shield and Cover with Bullet Hole Binnaaché

National Museum of American Indian record: Formerly owned by Sits In The Middle (Apsáalooke); collected from his grandson, John Adams, in 1923 by anthropologist William (Willem) Wildschut (1883-1955) during fieldwork sponsored by MAI. The NMAI label attached to object states: Buffalo hide shield and cover. In the top is a bullet hole, and the last owner of the shield carried to the day of his death the bullet that penetrated the shield and imbedded itself above his right temple. The black perpendicular stripes represent clouds, the zig-zag lines lighting, the lower perpendicular lines rain, and the present represents the moon. The hawk attached to the middle is the war medicine of the original owner. The bundles of hawk feathers represent the hawk who gave the vision to the maker of the shield. Crow Montana 117679