One American Indian Tradition Making A Comeback Plus Z.S. Liang's Painting

Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!

I don't want to dwell on the super negative tragedy of the Indigenous Peoples tribes being forced onto reservations and stripped of their culture but I have to explain a little history in order to talk about today's topic.

The tribes had developed very efficient ways of living over the millennia, with each aspect of their lifestyles having been honed to the highest degree of practicality and the best use of limited resources with no waste and working with nature.

They had their priorities straight

Family units were the strength of society and protecting and raising children was a top priority. One of the ways the babies were protected while the mother carried on her everyday duties was the use of the cradle board.

The cradle boards allowed the mother to keep the baby close to her but snug and protected at the same time. They protected from the sun as well as from branches while they were moving through the woods.

Here are a few vintage photos showing some of the cradle board styles:

Here's a lady working in a corn field with her baby in the cradle board:

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This is an Apache woman in 1931:

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This is a Pawnee couple with their tribe's distinctive Star design cradle board:

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An Achomawi mother in 1923:

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A Flathead mother in 1911:

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This is a Ute woman in 1890, total protection with this one!:

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I'm not sure what style this is but the craftsmanship and artistry is outstanding:

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Another Apache style taken in 1903 by the famous Western photographer Edward J. Curtis:

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Getting closer to modern times this is a Navajo mother in 1940:

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The tribal women are starting to make them again and of course they don't have the idiotic U.S. government to restrict them now days. This is a beaded Crow design:

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And here is a young modern day Paiute mother with the cradle board she designed:

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As you can see, each tribe had specific designs and they were decorated with spiritual symbols that had special meaning for them. But for the most part the cradle boards and any traditional religious symbols were forbidden on the reservation.

It's amazing that we have the number of vintage photos that we do and that they survived. Times are changing though and more and more of the lost aspects of indigenous culture is coming back, including the use of cradle boards.

One of my favorite Western painters, Z.S. Liang painted a marvelous painting of a cradle board and that's what prompted me to do more research into the subject. His painting is of a Blackfoot mother, daughter, and baby.

"Beneath The Cottonwoods"

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This is what Z.S. Liang says about the painting and subject:

“Maternal love is in all races of mankind. Blackfoot girls married young and looked forward to becoming mothers. Much like today, children played house and mimicked adult life,” says Z.S. Liang of "Beneath the Cottonwoods."

A Blackfoot mother would use a cradleboard, traditional across most Native American tribes, to protect and carry her baby.

Cradleboards were made from curved and cross-braced willow-wands covered with buckskin and decorated with beadwork. An apron with lacing held the baby in. Notice the beaded umbilical cord amulet hanging on the cradle, a talisman for the child."

Thanks for reading folks, God bless you all!
-jonboy
Texas