Hunkpapa Sioux Style War Headdress

The Hunkpapa Sioux style War Headdress, Chief Sitting Bull’s tribe, living in South Dakota were the typical Lakota group with cultural overlaps with both the Mandan and the Cheyenne tribes. 30″H with Drops 26″W Typically, war headdresses like this one were composed of awarded coup feathers given to a warrior as an acknowledgement of battle deeds and other heroic accomplishments. The ermine attached to the crown along with stripped hawk feathers indicated the owner warrior was extremely adept in battle. The red ochre coloring on the major plume is a reflection of the warrior’s spiritual quality which is also indicated by the beaded pipes on the red trade cloth drops hanging at the temples. With all endeavors, the warriors who possessed war headdresses like this one were highly respected within the tribe and were usually members of specific tribal military societies.