Schede van een elst

362-19 Southern Ute awl or needle case; panákorokonoï (TK); harness leather, glass beads; l. 10 cm., w. 5.8 cm.; ca. 1880. This small case is made of harness leather, the front panel of which is covered in lazy stitched white beads, with the small rectangular designs executed in black and red, always in opposition towards each other, and in yellow, blue and pink. Ten Kate's original handwritten label of the native name has survived, and he calls it a "purse." O. Roland McCook Sr., a Northern Ute representative on the Smithsonian's Native American Repatriation Review Committee told Hovens that the correct Native term would be panákorokonoiv, and that Ten Kate's translation was generally correct, as the Ute-term meant "purse for metal." However, as this specimen is much too small and tight to hold coins, I hazard the suggestion that this artifact might have been an awl or needle case, containing this sewing hardware that Indian women obtained through white traders. 362-19, 20, 21, 202, 203 Southern Ute beaded and painted hide containers Among the Southern Utes the Dutch anthropologist collected four hide artifacts. All were decorated with either beadwork or paint, and the specimens exemplify the strong Plains influence on the material culture of the Southern Utes. The Utes closest to the Spanish settlements in the northern Rio Grande Valley had begun to acquire horses before the mid-seventeenth century, and used these initially as beasts of burden. After the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 the number of Ute horses increased as the result of trade. In the course of the next century the most easterly Ute groups became equestrian nomads, lived in tipis, hunted buffalo on the Plains, raided for horses, and raced horses as a favorite pastime. However, after 1830 they were pushed back to the west by Plains tribes but in their way of life continued the Plains pattern of equestrian nomadism as much as possible, increasingly hunted elk and deer, kept up a reputation as fierce warriors, and retained the Plains-type of material culture. After being placed on the reservation, Southern Ute Indian Agents differed in their attitude towards Native women producing beadwork for an outside market, varying from support in recognition of the income generating possibilities of the craft to outright condemnation as a vestige of an uncivilized way of life (Callaway et.al. 1986:338-350; Shimkin 1986; Osborn 1998:52-54; Wroth 2000:62-63,66; Bates 2000). In museumcollecties zijn relatief veel kleine met kralen geborduurde tassen van de Utes bewaard gebleven. In 1868 waren deze in ieder geval al in gebruik zoals foto's uit die tijd bewijzen. Het gros van deze tasjes werd tussen 1890 en 1930 verzameld. De Nederlandse antropoloog Herman ten Kate nam echter al in 1883 dergelijke voorwerpen mee van een bezoek aan het Southern Ute reservaat in Colorado. Dit tasje of etui werd waarschijnlijk gebruikt voor het opbergen van benen naalden of een elst. De witte kleur van de kralen symboliseert de hemel en wordt tevens geassocieerd met de adelaar die het luchtruim domineert. Kleuren representeren vaak dieren, ook bij de Utes: geel/poema, groen/grizzlybeer, rood/wezel, zwart/ratelslang, grijs/wolf, blauw en turquoise/coyote.