Old Eagle - Oto
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for Old Eagle - Oto
Old Eagle - Oto
Artist
Edward Sheriff Curtis
(1868 - 1952)
Date1930
MediumPhotogravure
ClassificationsPrint
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2005.28.680
Accession number
2005.28.680
DescriptionPlate 679On View
Not on viewLabel TextThe fur turban of Old Eagle, a member of the Otoe tribe, is characteristic of an older style ceremonial headdress worn by his and other Southern Plains and Prairie tribes since the early nineteenth century. Around the mid-nineteenth century, eagle feather headdresses became more and more common. Old Eagle’s fur turban is similar to the one worn by the Comanche Lefthand and the Osage John Abbott, also on view in this group of portraits. Chiefs usually wore otter skin turbans often adorned with a downy eagle plume erect in a socket at the back, while a similar headdress of fox fur marked the experienced warrior. Many tribes still follow traditions and guidelines associated with the right to wear an otter fur turban. Old Eagle is also wearing an Abraham Lincoln peace medal which was often presented to noted tribal leaders during treaty negotiations or other important occasions.
