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Source Description
Many Plains peoples hold lavishly quilled or beaded cradles in high esteem—they bestow spiritual benefits on the infant and prestige and honor on the family and the maker, usually a female relative. Indeed, today and in the past, creating such a cradle is often regarded as equal to counting coup, the ultimate act of male bravery in which a warrior touches an enemy with a stick known as a coup stick. This cradle was held in the arms; others have wooden frames that can be propped against a support, such as a sofa or a tree, to ease the baby’s socialization into the community.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
151622
label
Cradle or Baby Carrier
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
151622
contentType
object
title
Cradle or Baby Carrier
description
Many Plains peoples hold lavishly quilled or beaded cradles in high esteem—they bestow spiritual benefits on the infant and prestige and honor on the family and the maker, usually a female relative. Indeed, today and in the past, creating such a cradle is often regarded as equal to counting coup, the ultimate act of male bravery in which a warrior touches an enemy with a stick known as a coup stick. This cradle was held in the arms; others have wooden frames that can be propped against a support, such as a sofa or a tree, to ease the baby’s socialization into the community.
date
c. 1900
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79935280
genreSpecific
Leather
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 24.1 x 25.4 x 85.7 cm (9 1/2 x 10 x 33 3/4 in.)
cul
Native North America, Plains, Lakota (Sioux)
accession
1984.1047
Source extras
tec
Native-tanned hide, cotton cloth, glass beads, metal beads, brass bell, sinew thread, cotton thread
tombstone
Cradle or Baby Carrier, c. 1900. Native North America, Plains, Lakota (Sioux). Native-tanned hide, cotton cloth, glass beads, metal beads, brass bell, sinew thread, cotton thread; overall: 24.1 x 25.4 x 85.7 cm (9 1/2 x 10 x 33 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of David S. McMillan, 1984.1047
collection
AA - Native North America
formerAccessionNumbers
1030.33
didYouKnow
In the past, young Plains children spent much of their time in cradles, which remain in occasional use today.
creditline
Bequest of David S. McMillan
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:50:21.588000
sourceId
151622
dept
Art of the Americas
coll
AA - Native North America
med
Native-tanned hide, cotton cloth, glass beads, metal beads, brass bell, sinew thread, cotton thread
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
ee8a10845ebad15c