black silk cloth (possibly handkerchief) covering something stiff, possibly cardboard or birch bark, black linen tape; linen thread; bald eagle and golden eagle feathers (latter dyed red), "fluffs," quills, red dyed hair, wooden sticks, sinew, leather thongs, siver broaches, ear bobs, white egg-shaped glass beads.

Black silk cloth (probably handkerchief) covers a stiff card that is shaped into cylander to fit the head. Seam is inside at center of red dyed golden eagle feathers. On the outside there is a long pendant of cotton tape covered with broaches.This is covered all around with 9 rows of 1/2 inch broaches, with silver ear bobs attached to some of the ones on the top row. On the front, there are 7 bald eagle feathers sewn upright into the top of the cylander, 5 of which are decorated with quillwrapped wooden sticks that are attached to the stems. On the back there are 7 golden eagle feathers dyed red attached the same way, 5 of which are decorated with quillwrapped sticks. The thongs that hold the feathers together in an upright position are threaded through their stems. On the front, the ends are decorated with the egg-shaped while beads. On the back, these beads decorate both the ends and between the feathers. One end is tipped with a small red feather, possibly a red shafted flicker (AM). On the front, three of the quilled sticks also have tufts of red dyed hair and small red feathers in the middle; on the front and back some of the quilled sticks have fluffs and/or fur on the top.

Quillwork has a checkerboard pattern in center, flanked by bands of black and white and then solid red. The quillwork on the golden eagle feathers have more rows of alternating black and white.

Description written by CW; AC suggests that the headdress was worn with the pendant in front of the left ear. AM observes that long pendants in the back are typical of women's dress on the Plains (e.g. Hochunk and CW adds Potawatomi). CW notes that nevertheless, the headdress is perfectly symetrical if considered with the pendant in center back, but not with pendant at side. None of us has seen or can think of a similar example to compare. There was some discussion of comparison with Plains examples, no conclusions were drawn.

NMAI record states: "Feather bonnet. Black satin-wrapped birchbark headband, decorated with silver ring brooches, and pendants. Two black ribbons with silver brooches, and white porcelain trade beads strung on buckskin. Has 14 eagle feathers upright, with quilled rib decoration and red horsehair. One side of feathers dyed red; one side plain. No specific tribe recorded. From Michilimackinac-Fort Miami region, assumed to be Chippewa, Ottawa, and Eastern Souix. THe ANdrew Foster Collection. Collected by Maj. Andrew Foster, 1790-1795"

Collected between 1793 and 1795. Materials and style suggest no earlier than 1750 for place of acquisition (CW).

The items in the Foster Collection were collected by Lieutenant (later Captain) Andrew Foster of the Twenty-fourth Regiment of Foot, while posted at Fort Miami (Detroit) and Michilimackinac, between August 1793 and August 1796, at which time the Regiment was withdrawn to Montreal. During this period Lieutenant Foster was instrumental in surveying and building the British fort on St. Joseph Island, among other duties. The collection remained with the Foster family until 1936, when they donated it to the Wells Museum (Wells, Somerset, UK), which then sold it to a Mr. Robert Abels on an unrecorded date. Some time “recently” prior to August 1966, Abels sold it to George Terasaki, a New York dealer. In 1968, the Museum of the American Indian (George Gustuv Heye’s museum in New York) made an exchange of selected artifacts with Terasaki in order to acquire the, now well-documented, Foster Collection. In 1990, it became part of the holdings of the Smithsonian’s newly established National Museum of the American Indian in Washington along with the rest of the Heye Foundation Collections.

This record was created on site at NMAI by the GRASAC members listed below. Ann McMullen and Pat Nietfeld of NMAI supported the research onsite. Cory Willmott's research was funded by a grant from the American Philosophical Society. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provided Cory with an RA, Ceara Horsley, in Fall 2008 to work on GRASAC data entry. (CH)