Treasures from Our West: Lakota Lance

Feathered Lance
Lakota (Sioux), Northern Plains, ca. 1840

This feathered lance, nearly seven feet long, is on display in the newest gallery of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s Plains Indian Museum—the Paul Dyck Plains Indian Buffalo Culture Gallery. The painted wood pole has an eight-inch-long metal spear point. The red wool bow banner is hand stitched, as you can see when you zoom into the photograph below. The banner is attached to the pole with a leather tie at the spear end of the pole. The golden eagle feathers have dyed yellow eagle fluffs at their base and dyed yellow horse hair attached at their tips.

Historically, a warrior who rode into battle next to a war leader carried a lance with a banner to help identify and locate the leader in the confusion of combat.

To find out more about the Lakota Sioux tribe as represented in the Paul Dyck Collection, click here.

The Paul Dyck Plains Indian Buffalo Culture Collection was acquired through the generosity of the Dyck family and additional gifts of the Nielson Family and the Estate of Margaret S. Coe. The Wyoming Humanities Council, the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation, and Deborah and Rusty Rokita supported the creation of the Paul Dyck Plains Indian Buffalo Culture Gallery.

Lakota (Sioux), Northern Plains, ca. 1840. Wood, steel, golden eagle feathers, dyed eagle fluffs, wool cloth, dyed horse hair, tanned hide, cotton cloth, cotton twine, cotton thread, glue pigment. NA.502.265

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