During the 19th century, shields carried into battle by Plains and Southwestern Indians did not wholly function as true armor. Rather the shield and its cover, combined with the painted symbols and attachments, exuded invisible protective power for the bearer.

The iconography on most shields resulted from dreams experienced by the warrior. Usually only the owner and his immediate family and associates were privy to the covert significance embodied in shield iconography.

The cover of this shield bears motifs characteristic of those painted on other objects of Apache material culture. Motifs such as these are variously labeled as representational, mythological, anthropomorphic, zoological, or cosmological. Some are reported to relate to Apache Gaan, or Mountain Spirits--those generally benevolent beings largely associated with health and well-being.

By and large the figures painted on the Apache shields are highly abstract. It is temptingly easy to speculate what some of the designs mean, for they visually approximate things that seem familiar. However, Indians did not always depict symbols with exacting realism. What might appear to be lightning might symbolize something else. A bug-like form can actually stand for something completely different. Many symbols are enigmatic. Their significance remains veiled to us.

Benson L. Lanford
April 26, 2001