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The Museum will be closed to the public on Friday, December 20 for a private event.

Cradleboard

Unknown

Eastern Woodlands, Osage

circa 1910

Wood, paint, brass

2022.47.1

On View

Daily Life

Anonymous gift

This cradle is made in the traditional prairie plains style which was likely adapted by the Osage when they moved westward from the Ohio Valley.  It incorporates the Catholic cross motif at the top between older moon and star designs. The Christianization of Indigenous people began in earnest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the introduction of reservations and boarding schools.

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