Dig It - 1/16/23
Come on in Seekers. Sit Down. Do you want to see something nice? Of course you do! And I’ve got something to show you!
Lonesome, being a prospector, always likes to see a gem like this pouch. This here is a tobacco bag, an old friend of mine who knew a thing or two, Denis Lessard, always insisted that we call this form of pouch a tobacco bag and not a pipe bag, because they held tobacco and not pipes. This pouch is from the Northern Arapaho people residing in the Wind River Range of present-day Wyoming. They speak an Algonquin Language and call themselves Nank’haanseine’nan. That’s quite a mouth full, but it means “People of the White Sage”. It is believed that the Arapaho originated in the Great Lakes region, where they were farmers growing corn, and were pushed out on to the Plains in the late 17th century by the expanding Ojibwa. Sometime in the late 18th century the Arapaho got the horse. By the early 19th century, they had moved further west and south as they were closely allied with the Cheyenne. The name Arapaho is possibly a corruption of a Pawnee word for “Trader”; and certainly by the 19th century the Arapaho were moving north and south, along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, through Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, hunting buffalo and trading or raiding with various tribes.
Now that we have some background out of the way, let's look at this here beautiful pouch. It is 25“ long and 6.5" wide. It is made from the finest, thinly tanned hide, quite possibly antelope. The hide has been rubbed with ocher or yellow Iron oxide to give it that rich buttery color. This bag has two "A” sides which is rare for tobacco pouches, usually one side is much better than the other. The designs on the left photo are very Cheyenne influenced while the designs on the right photo are much more Lakota like. Maybe because the Arapaho were involved in trading, they felt free to borrow from their neighbors. The result is this wonderful gem of a pouch. This pouch is for sale and comes with a mount for easy hanging on the wall. Watch your topknot and keep your eyes on the horizon.
