Mescalero Apache man's shirt; buckskin, sinew, glass beads, paints; l. 57 cm., w. (at shoulders) 51 cm.; ca. 1880.<BR> Ten Kate purchased this item of dress in Santa Fe in July 1883 from a merchant who obtained it from Mescaleros who had been at the Tertio-Millennial Exposition. This pullover buckskin shirt is painted dark blue all over, with a red stripe down the center front and back. The sleeves, triangular flaps at the neck, and all fringes were added; all sewing is with sinew. Fringes are painted yellow. There are narrow bands of white and dark blue beadwork at the cuffs, where the sleeves are attached to the body, and down the outside of the sleeve from shoulder to elbow. There are two open circles of blue and white beadwork on the top of each shoulder, with the interiors painted yellow on the near circles, and red on the outer. On the front flap is a four-pointed star inside a crescent in white beads; the same motif is repeated on the back flap in light blue beads.<BR> Although this shirt may strike modern viewers as exceptionally stunning and beautiful (which it is), it is apparently fairly typical of Mescalero shirts of the 1880s. Certainly not every man would have owned such a shirt, and a man wearing one would have been recognized as having some importance, and perhaps wealth. But thanks to photographs taken at the Tertio-Millennial Exposition, it is clear that quite a few of the Mescalero men there were wearing this same type of shirt (Broder 1990:figs. 31,94,95; Mails 1974:337-338). Conceivably the shirt that Ten Kate obtained is actually being worn in one of these photographs, but thus far it has not been seen in any of the pictures examined. From such shirts having once been a relatively commonplace sight, Ten Kate's example has now acquired some greater cultural and artistic significance largely as a result of such shirts now, over 120 years later, being very old and rare.<BR> The star and crescent design on the flaps of this shirt are of additional interest. Between 1903 and 1908 a religious movement took place among the Western Apaches known as daagodighá, that has been variously translated as "they will be raised up" or "rising upward" or "spiritual movement starts" (Ferg 1998a:72). While Western Apaches, and probably all Apache groups, have used crosses (stars) and crescents (moons) singly and together as designs on many items, both sacred and secular, the medicine man who began this religion, Daslahdn, prescribed that followers should mark their belongings with a combined cross-and-crescent symbol, with the two elements sometimes fused into a single anchor-shaped design (Ferg 1998a). The movement came to and end after the death of Daslahdn and four other medicine men who were involved. Although daagodighá was short-lived, the extensive use of the cross-and-crescent motif on men's caps, pollen pouches, baskets, and saddlebags had a long-lasting impact on the decoration of Western Apache objects.<BR> Daslahdn never specifically stated what the cross-and-crescent motif signified. In looking for what this design may have meant for Western Apaches, the use of this design was examined among neighboring Apache groups, earlier in time (Ferg 1998b). Its presence on this Mescalero shirt, which predates daagodighá, was of interest because it suggests connections with other, earlier religious beliefs. For many Native American groups, cross and crescent motifs relate in various ways to the Morning Star (Venus) and the moon, and sometimes the manner in which the two are positioned relative to one another, and the roles these heavenly bodies play in traditional stories. In addition to this shirt, beaded cross-and-crescent motifs can be seen on a Mescalero man's cap in a photograph thought to date around 1885 (Ferg 1998b:fig. 4), and a few other objects of uncertain age. At least three possible sources for the Mescalero use of cross-and-crescent motifs suggest themselves, but what the truth may be is difficult to assess given the nature and remoteness of the data. Mescaleros may have created this motif themselves, as part of their iconography for representing the cosmos (Farrer 1991:60-100; Farrer and Second 1981). A second possibility is that the design is related to the Mescaleros' participation in peyote ceremonies starting around 1870, or their familiarity with its use by groups in Mexico perhaps as early as 1770 (Opler 1936:143-n.4; 1938:271,273; Stewart 1948:34-35). Designs incorporating crosses and crescents are integral to the peyote symbolism of many groups (e.g. Ferg 1998b:fig. 6). A third possibility for the origin of the Mescalero use of cross-and-crescent motifs would be designs borrowed from Plains Ghost Dance paraphernalia, probably clothing. But Ten Kate's shirt predates the 1890 Ghost Dance movement, and it is unclear whether such motifs were used in the 1870 cult. What future understanding of these matters may be gained is unknown, but the importance of Ten Kate's shirt will remain, as one of the few pieces of solid, well-documented evidence of the use of cross-and-crescent motifs among the Mescaleros in 1883.<BR> While hunting, or raiding, or on the warpath, the attire of Western Apache men was basic and functional. They wore only a breechcloth and hightop moccasins, to protect the feet and legs from thorns and brush. A cartridge belt was fastened around the hips, from which pouches, awl or knife cases, and small sacks of food were suspended. Buckskin caps were prevalent in earlier days, but Ten Kate said they were still occasionally worn in his time, and their use on special occasions actually has lasted to the present.<BR> <BR> In camp, nearly all men wore a cloth headband. Their dress showed an eclectic mix of Apache and European clothing items and styles, including blankets of Indian, Mexican or American manufacture, and sometimes shirts, pants, shoes, and cowboy hats. Women wore calico cloth "camp dresses" patterned after abundantly pleated Mexican and American dresses. It was obvious to Ten Kate that items of Western manufacture were replacing traditional costume, but he still saw fancy buckskin shirts worn by men, and both men and women continued to wear buckskin moccasins (khé) with rawhide soles and toe tabs, beaded buckskin pouches, and awl and knife cases. Although little jewelry was in evidence, he managed he collected a number of interesting necklaces.<BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> Hemd (Mescalero Apache). Bisonhuid, donkerblauw geverf met een rode streep door het midden; de driehoekige flap aan de voorzijde is blauw met een kruis of vierpuntige ster of vier en halve maan uitgevoerd in lichtblauwe glazen kralen; de franje is geel geverfd; de naden en mouweinden zijn met kralen versierd, aangebracht in een driehoekspatroon; schouders…….<BR> <BR> <BR> Het kruis-en-halve maan motief is niet eenduidig en kan verschillende betekenissen hebben. Het kan staan voor de aan de nachtelijke hemel opvallende positie van de Morgenster (Venus) en de maan tegenover elkaar. Mogelijk is het motief ontleend aan gelijksoortige motieven die werden gebruikt in de peyote-cultus. Het kan als zodanig overgenomen zijn door de peyote gebruikende naburige stammen als de Lipans, Tonkawas of Carrizos. De Mescaleros gebruiken zelf geen peyote. Een derde mogelijkheid is ontlening aan motieven die gebruikt werden in de Ghost-Dance van 1870, maar het voorkomen van de combinatie kruis/ster en halve maan is niet geheel zeker bij deze vroege nativistische beweging.<BR> <BR> <BR>