Blackfoot Dancer

01/17/2020

Cradleboards are the foundation of Native American childrearing. The oldest cradleboard found was that of the Anastazi which was being used around 750 AD.

Every tribal region south of the artic circle and north of Mexico had a version of cradleboard. Cradleboards designs tended to be regional, made from local materials.

The pencil sketch of a Natchez family c. 1730 is an example of a cradleboard captured in that time period.

01/13/2020

I am taking orders for cradle boards starting next week. I will have a price list out shortly.

01/09/2020

12/05/2017

Congratulations Keila on your baby boy!

11/06/2017

These evening at my house.

Class #1: A History of the Native American Cradleboard.
Overview of the Science of the Cradleboard

Photos: Cowlitz mother and child. 1840's; Kiyo Pow-wow 2013.

11/03/2017

Save the date: initial Cradleboard class on Monday at 6:00 p.m.

10/27/2017

As you are aware, I am a state legislature and it looks like I will be going into session this next month. I will have to cancel my scheduled classes. Sorry about that.

10/25/2017

Clark Wissler in his book "Social Organization and Ritualistic Ceremonies of the Blackfoot Indians" 1912 stated "As the period of pregnancy nears its end women discarded their bracelets...dress in old clothes and effect carelessness of person...."

Clark Wissler's book is based on his observations and talking with men. I am sure that he wasn't permitted to observe or come close to the Blackfoot "Woman's World" nor do I think he took much interest because he gave an entire three pages to women.

My problem with his statement comes from my family traditions and stories passed down from mother to daughter for four generations. First, birth and death are the responsibility of women. According to stories from my grandmother, pregnant women were at their most powerful and were treated very well by the entire band. She said pregnant women were "babied."

In contrast to Wissler, Denning stated that the Blackfoot were the cleanest people he had seen of all the tribes. They kept themselves clean, they kept their children clean and they kept their camp clean. For a woman to let herself go when she was the most powerful would go against everything Blackfoot.

I thought about this obscure statement and putting myself in this position, when a woman is pregnant she is at her most beautiful. To become "begger-like" would drive me nuts and for a logical people, it was stupid.

10/24/2017

Building a cradleboard is a labor of love, but it is labor. It takes time and materials (and a great teacher LOL). It will take more than the 5 classes but if you are not a beginning sewer or beader then you should be close to finishing your cradleboard.

For those that would just like to take the class and have no plans to have a baby in the future, then you will be creating a piece of art. I have sold several cradleboards on the west coast and they used them for art pieces and conversation pieces. I have my son's cradleboards on my wall and they are beautiful.

Please let me know by October 30th if you plan to attend and which class you want to attend, I or II. I can accommodate up to 6 participants in each class due to space.

Photos: Class materials list; Apache mothers and baby 1880's; Julia Wades in the Water with children; Double Runner (Ian Webber) 26 years ago.

10/20/2017

Native Americans adore and treasure their children. From the very beginning, the impending birth of a child was a gift for the parents, the family and the band. Grandmothers, aunts and sisters began to gather around the mother giving her advise, making her comfortable and starting the crafting of the cradleboard. In the cases, such as the Mohawk, it was the fathers that crafted very elaborated cradleboards for their child.

Our ancestors wanted to protect their most precious gift and in the process give the baby a boost in its development. They utilized a science created centuries before them. They passed this science down from mother to daughter/father until the beginning of the 1900s. They would add family symbols, colors or just what caught their eye to the cradleboard because it would frame the most beautiful baby in the world.

They never forgot the spiritual component and would add fetishes or personal tokens to it that meant something to them personally. I gather my willows for the hoop in upper Two Medicine. It is a sacred place and I feel it will give further protection and blessing to the baby. This is where I harvested hoops for my sons and grandchildren.

A cradleboard is based in the science of child development. It has only been recently that respected medical institutions have supported what Native peoples have known for centuries. The tribes knew that their infants needed more time in the womb in order to expedite their development. That is exactly what a cradleboard does.

As you are aware I am offering a couple cradleboard classes. Even if you do not expect to have children, knowing the history and science of the cradleboard is all of our heritage.

Photos: 1700s Natchez family with cradleboard; N. Bear Medicine in velvet cradleboard - 17 years ago. He is now graduating high school; A. Kennedy - 7 years ago; Ojibiwa encampment in 1847 with cradleboard.

10/14/2017

Just visited Salish Kootenai. I'm always looking for examples of cradle boards. These are cute.

10/06/2017

I provide a class with I have dubbed over the years as "Cradleboard 101." I have an hour long power point presentation that goes through centuries of cradleboard use and shows regional/tribal styles of cradleboards. I then go over the components of the cradleboard and finally how they are to be used. Native American Cradleboard use can be supported by modern child development and physical development theory.

I have found that many people want cradleboards because they are rare, unique and beautiful. However, they don't know how to use them so they end up in a corner gathering dust or in the shed or thrown out totally. This last incident happened because the young mother thought it was witchcraft, though the grandmother had given her the best gift she ever could for her grandchild.

When you receive a cradleboard as a gift or get one yourself and don't use it, this is a total waste of money. Cradleboards are pricey since they are all handmade. You can only get certain components at certain times of the year.

Far more important, it is a lose of one of the most basic tribal cultural components. Blackfoot had a specific system of child rearing techniques which focused on the survival of the family and the child. All of this started with the cradleboard.

10/03/2017

Blackfoot Dancer has two cradleboards available. Cradleboards have been used for centuries by Native American tribal peoples below the sub-Artic and above the hot desert areas (Mexico and South America).

The sub-Artic people would tuck their babies in their coats, close to the warmth of their parent's bodies. The desert areas didn't need cradleboards because of the heat. Chafing would be a problem.

Each region had their own style of cradleboards. The Plains had the high backed cradleboards which could easily be tied to a travois. Today they are seldom seen because they are large and not practical.

These cradleboards from the Plateau region that runs from the west coast from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and parts of Montana. They are practical and useful. They are also the perfect frame for the most beautiful thing you will ever see, your baby.

Each cradleboard takes at least 3-4 weeks to make because they are totally hand made. No two will ever be the same. The hoops are made from willows harvested from the Two Medicine area only in the spring time of the year. This provides an extra blessing for your baby because it is a sacred area for the Amskapi Piikunii.