Cleveland Museum of Art

Awl Case

Date

c. 1890

Medium

Native-tanned hide, glass beads, cotton thread

Culture

Native North America, Plains, Gaigwu (Kiowa)

Department

Art of the Americas

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Plains women hung small bags often decorated with beads from their belts to keep their most important tools at hand. This one contained an awl, a shaft of bone, stone, or metal that tapered to a point and had many functions. One of the most important was to sew animal hides into garments: the awl was used to punch small holes in the hide, and then a thread made of animal sinew was laced through the holes and pulled tight.

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