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Kiowa Cradleboard

Unknown

Red Earth

Red Earth
Oklahoma City, United States

The Kiowa of the southern plains are credited with creating the most well-known baby carrier of the plains commonly known as the "lattice" cradle. This style was so popular that it spread to the Comanche, Cheyenne and Dakota Sioux tribes of the central plains.
The Kiowa cradleboard utilized a V-shaped framework to which was attached a deep, straight-sided skin bag. The pointed ends of the two vertical boards usually extended more than a foot beyond the top of the bag. The boards were held in place by wooden cross pieces near the head and foot of the pouch. These boards, and the curved piece of buffalo rawhide secured inside the top of the cradle, protected the child if the cradle fell to the ground.
Cradle in Kiowa language: pahn-tõpe

Front-facing view of the cradle.

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  • Title: Kiowa Cradleboard
  • Creator: Unknown
  • Date Created: 1910
  • Physical Dimensions: 9.5 x 43.5 x 13 in (24.1 x 110.5 x 33 cm)
  • Provenance: Gift of Dr. Harry & Dorothy Deupree
  • Rights: Red Earth, Inc. (Photo: Courtesy of Danny Sands)
  • Medium: Wood, leather, beadwork, cloth, rawhide, turquoise beads
  • Depicted Topic: Cradleboard
Red Earth

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