Mikanakawa Native American Village - Circle Ten Council

PIPE BONE BREASTPLATEPeople living in the Plains and Plateau areaswore breastplates for decoration. They werefirst made from the narrow dantalium shellstraded from the coast tribes. Later they weremade from buffalo and cow bones and werecalled “pipe bones”. Settlers made them totrade with the Indians, too.Men’s breastplates came to the waist. Somewomen and girls were wealthy enough to havebreastplates that hung to the ground. Theywere trimmed with bells and jinglers and werevery heavy.Materials needed:White tagboard or poster boardYarnScissorsStaplerHole PunchColored markersCut 2 side strips from the tagboard that are10” x 1”, and cut 10 more strips 8”X ½”.Staple the narrow strips to the wider onesat the sides, spacing the strips about ½”apart.Punch a hole at the top of the side stripsand tie on enough yarn to go around yourneck.Cut two 6” pieces of yarn. Punch a hole atthe bottom of the side strips, loop the yarnthrough the hole, and knot it to hand as atassel.Use markers to color the center sections ofthe strips to look like colored beads andbone sections.