Made and painted by John Groeneveld ( Non-Native
American ).
The meaning and owner of the
shield, see below.
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The meaning of the shield:
Buffalo's Medicine symbolizes an
honor or special love for all the things that
Mother Earth offers her children.
The Buffalo is more than an animal. It is the
sun’s shadow.
Our lives are bound to it. If it lives, we live.
If it dies, we die. It is our life and our living
shield.
The buffalo is an appropriate symbol for the
sacred in the Native American world. It stands
for the many elements of sacred which have been
lost to Indian peoples.
The colour red stands
for the earth and the life-sustaining blood of
the people.
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The owner and
maker:
The original shield belonged to Reginald
Laubin. Reginald Laubin and his wife,
Gladys were not Native American, but they studied
Native dance and culture with Sioux, Crow,
Cheyenne and other Plains Indians.
Reginald and Gladys were adopted by the Sioux
tribe and were respectively given the names of
Tatanka Wanjila ( One Bull ) and Wiyaka Wastewin
( Good Feather Woman ). The two later lived with
the Crow tribe in the state of Montana.
If this is the original shield the date should be
changed. It is possible, however, that we have a
shield made later and holding the same design. It
was a tradition to paint the same dream scene
more than once.
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Used materials:
Willow hoop
Rawhide
Green trade cloth
Eagle feathers
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The original shield
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Museum:
Spurlock
Museum
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Click on image
for larger view
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