Rain-In-The-Face (Lakota Ite Omagazu) - the shielded Hunkpapa Lakota War Chief
The Story of a Well-Made shield
Now in the dawn before it dies, the eagle swings low and wide in a great arc, curving downward to the Place of Origin. There is no wind, but there is a long roaring in the air. It is like the wind—nor is it like wind—but more powerful.
In its basic form the Plains shield is round and made of durable materials. It is relatively small and light in weight. A diameter of 24-inches is close to the average. The manufacture consists of hide and adornments. The hide is thick and dried to a remarkable hardness; it is most often the hide of a bison. Only in a limited sense can the shield rightly be considered armor, although it is strong enough to dispel missiles, stones and clubs certainly, but also arrows and even balls and bullets shot from firearms, especially if the blow is glancing. But first and above all, the shield is Medicine.
The Plains’ shield reflects the character of the Plains’ culture, also known as the Horse culture or Centaur culture. It evidences a nomadic society and warrior ideal. Those who carried shields were hunters and fighters whose purpose it was to raid, to capture, and to demonstrate extraordinary bravery.
The aesthetic aspect of the Plains shield is pronounced; the shield is a unique work art. Without exception great care is given to the decoration of a proper shield. The artwork on many Plains’ shield is highly evolved in terms of proportion, design, symmetry, color, and imagination. Plains shield art is the equal of the great ledger book drawings of the nineteenth century, which in turn have been compared to Archaic Greek vase painting. It is an art of high order and singular accomplishment.
The shield bears a remarkable relationship to the individual to whom it belongs. Indeed the relationship is so immediate, so intimate as to be impossible to define. In a real sense the Plains warrior is his shield. It is his personal flag, the realization of his vision and his name, the object of his holiest quest, the tangible expression of his deepest being. In bearing his shield he says, “ My shelf stands for me, and I stand for my shield. I am, and I am my shield!”
The shield is involved in story; the shield is its own story. When the shield is made visible it means: Here is the story. Enter into it and be created. The story tells of your real being. The shield is a mask. The mask is an appearance that discloses reality beyond appearance. Like other masks, it bespeaks sacred mystery. The shield is what you see, believes the Plains’ warrior. It reflects your own reality, as it does mine, he says. It reveals to you the essence of your self. It charms you, frightens you, disarms you, renders you helpless. You behold my shield and you are transfixed or transformed, perhaps inspired beyond your own imagining. Nothing will ever be the same again, for you have entered into the presence of my power. Oh my enemy! Behold my shield! — N. Scott Momaday, In The Presence of The Sun