Beaded buffalo hide shirt and beaded leggings belonging to Brave Heart, member of Sitting Bull's band late 19th and early 20th century

Shirt with beaded bands over shoulders and down arms, lane-stitched in white, red, blue, and orange in geometric design, fringed at back and arms; the leggings with lane-stitched bands in white, green, blue and red.

L: 28 in. W: 67 in. (armspan)

Provenance: The Luther R. and Frances T. Zehner Collection.

Recorded in Dr. Zehner's diary April 6, 1950: "Alice Howard came up just after supper and said she was looking for me. She said she has some things she wants me to see and that she got out that buckskin costume like she said she would the other day. So we all jumped into the car and went down to her place. Frances missed choir practice. Alice showed us lots of the Indian things she has. Then we agreed on a price for the man's costume." A later note: "This costume belonged to Chief Brave Heart (Chaw-day' oh he' dee gah), a Sioux who lived in Saskatchewan, Canada. He died about the time of the first World War. Was a member of Sitting Bull's band. He gave the costume to Alice a short time before he died. It was remodeled by Brave Heart's paternal aunt before he died at a very advanced age. The people called him "Sie" (pronounced "sigh"). Alice said he was so old that he could just sit in a wicker chair all day long and that if I wanted more information about him I could ask Reverend Buffalo at Cheyenne Agency about him."