Quechan cradleboard

This Quechan cradleboard has its original woven strap, headrest, and hooped frame, as well as a bed of soft shredded grass. Cradleboards were specific to girls and boys based on the color schemes of the hoods and the items attached to it. A girl’s hood had lozenges painted in the median line with chevrons placed transversely across it; a boy’s hood had oblique white lines reaching from one edge to the other. A tiny bow and arrows were attached to the boy’s hood, and a small string of beads was attached along the periphery for a girl. The red cloth, introduced by Mexicans, and the stitched white lines with the attached feathers suggest that this cradleboard was more than likely made for a boy.