Assiniboine Sundance Buffalo Rawhide & Parfleche Rattle c.1880 * Ft Belknap, MT

Description

Assiniboine Sundance Thunderbird Rattle
Buffalo Rawhide & Parfleche
c. 1880
This is a fantastic Plains Buffalo Hide Rattle, made with Parfleche molded buffalo rawhide, stitched and twine wrapped handle. The rattle has faint remnants of polychrome paint but the design cannot be made out. The attached tag reads "Thunderbird Rattler Used by Sundance Worshippers" and on the other side "Made Over 60 Years Ago of Buffalo Hide, Ft Belknap Reservation". The rattle tag is written in fountain pen and calls it the "Ft Belknap Reservation" in pencil after, the reservation began in 1888 and the Sundance was outlawed by the Federal Government in 1883.
Condition is good, hide is strong and solid, rattle seeds/stones are intact and functional, wear and fragile wrapping from age (see images).
Shipping will be .00 for US only. Payment expected within 2 weeks of auction end.