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Gifts of Pride and Love: Kiowa and Comanche Cradles

March 4, 2001 - May 27, 2001

Museum: American Indian Museum Heye Center

Location: George Gustav Heye Center, Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House

On view are historic Kiowa and Comanche lattice cradleboards, as well as two new cradles created especially for the exhibition. The cradles, which are among the most beautiful expressions of Plains Indian bead design of the late 19th and early 20th century, are technically intricate, brilliant in color and design, and practical in function. Lattice cradles, the preferred type of cradle in the southern Plains among Kiowa and Comanche from about 1870 to 1910, assist in socializing babies by elevating them to eye level with adults.

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