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This design is a stylized view of the familiar eagle feather headdress. As with the headdress, only highly respected warriors and leaders were permitted to wear such an emblem. The dominant color is Black, the color of danger, death and intense spiritual devotion. White represents life after death, the spirit world of ancestors and past warriors. Red is the sacred color of life, the color of blood; it lends its name to the Red Road, the path to proper conduct. This combination symbolizes the owner will not go from this life into the next until the proper time.
The Black War Bonnet Shield is made of rawhide over a willow hoop. A leather strap allows it to be flung over the shoulder or around the neck - as often worn by warriors on horseback - and an arm hold permits it to be carried, as in battle or during a dance. Also attached are a quilled medicine wheel, trade cloth and seven imitation eagle coup feathers.
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