This is truly a phenomenal sale highlight—an exceptionally scarce and important late-19th-Century Cheyenne Native American Indian Elk Dreamer Society War Shield. The shield is attributed to circa 1875 and was collected from the Cheyenne Indian of Nebraska. Provenance: From several notable ex-collections, such as Forrest Fenn, Dr. Colin Taylor, Ben Thompson, and Tom Hardy. The piece is comprised of two sections of cut and parfleched Great American Bison Buffalo hide sewn and glued together with hide glue likely made from tree saps and Buffalo hide lacing. The original shoulder strap is still intact on the back. The front is decorated with rare and important Elk Dreamer Society symbols. Original Elk Dreamer Society artifacts are immensely scarce and almost never come onto the open market, such as the example sold by Cowan’s Auctions in 2020, the Sioux Elk Dreamer Beaded Tobacco Bag from the Robert Jerich Illinois collection that sold for a record $131,250. The shield has a slight curve from drying and age drying and age, with some fading of the paint and symbols, but it is still in well-preserved condition and has minor wear. The large Elk face painted in black and red is typical of Cheyenne Elk Dreamer art in both paint and beadwork, as well as black and red dragonflies. Provenance: Displayed on page 97 of Dr. Colin Taylor’s 2001 book, “Native American Weapons”. The shield was supposedly said to be on the cover of John Baldwin’s 2005 book “Indian Guns, Spears and Shields of the American Frontier”, as Forrest Fenn had provided Baldwin with two photographs for the book, a Crow Bird Effigy Shield and this Cheyenne Elk Dreamer Shield. For some reason Baldwin lost the shield photographs and included Fenn’s Crow Shield on the cover instead. Provenance: Ex-collection of Forrest Fenn, sold to noted collector and author, Dr. Colin Taylor, where it was listed in his book as mentioned, sold to noted collector Ben Thompson and later to Tom Hardy of Indiana. This is one of the best painted shields with incredible attribution to the Elk Dreamer Society and previous collector ownership. The piece measures 22 inches across. Elk Dreamer Society Among the Lakota and other Plains peoples, to dream of a particular animal has great significance, for it is through dreams that one may receive the supernatural powers of that creature. The bull elk is believed to possess extraordinary seductive powers over the females of its kind. To dream of the bull elk is to acquire this special ability to captivate females. Men (and a few women) who dream of the elk joined the Elk Dreamers’ Society, often acting their dreams and “testing” their powers in dance performances. At society feasts, Elk Dreamers sang songs and made medicine for attracting women. For elk ceremonies, dreamers donned triangular masks of rawhide adorned with small branches representing antlers. They painted their bodies yellow and often painted their arms black from the elbow down and their legs black from the knee down. Dreamers carried hoops and mirrors from which to “shoot” their powers at rival dreamers and to bring their “victims” (often women) under their influence (Maurer 1992: 133, fig 53). (Cowan’s Lot 182 Sept. 18, 2020, description)