Particularly among the Western Great Lakes and Prairie cultures, Indian men commonly wore open-top turbans of various animal pelts, including otter, beaver, cougar, fox, skunk, and wolf. Otter was universally prized, not only for the beauty of its fur, but also for philosophical reasons. Indians observed that this charismatic creature occupied itself both in water and on land, and therefore deemed it to be a liaison between aquatic and land beings.

Traces of fur verify this turban to be of otter skin. When worn, in characteristic fashion, the head end of the pelt is oriented clockwise around the wearer's head. Indian peoples considered this direction as "sunwise"--the path the sun takes as it daily courses its way across the sky. Consequently, the otter's head lies at the wearer's right temple. The tail, cut from the body of the skin, is attached as a pendant at the left side of the wearer's face.

The two human hands, each enclosed within a fully beaded medallion are salient emblems on the turban. At least two explanations can be offered for the use of hand symbolism among the Prairie tribes. The first version, which perhaps does not apply here, declares that the wearer had killed an enemy in hand-to-hand combat. The second version, suggests the presence or blessings of Wakonda--the Great Spirit. Indeed, the present owner of this turban conveys in a letter, "The headdress has symbols that ... represent the open hand of God."
(See Fleming, 1986:33, 36, 188, 226, 227 and Penney, 1992:108-110.)

Benson L. Lanford
April 26, 2001