Crow Cradleboard

Crow cradleboards reflect the design elements and construction associated with Great Basin/Plateau tribes. They are wider at the top than the bottom, and are made of boards covered with stretched leather that blouses to form a pouch in the front. Tie straps that are attached to the sides of the cradle are a Crow invention. The straps at the top and bottom of the cradleboard's leather covering are beaded with designs ranging from geometric to floral.
By tradition, the father's mother or sister made the cradleboard for the expectant family. While rocking their babies to sleep, Crow women would often sing lullabies that were said to have been originally heard in dreams or obtained by an ancestor who overheard the song of some female animal lulling her offspring.
Cradie in Crow language: ba-gätët-cha

Front-facing view of the cradle.