Key Ideas
It is the spiritual power of the
image on a shield rather than the shield itself that provides protection for its owner.
The buffalo on this shield came to a young Crow man named Humped Wolf in a dream.
A rawhide shield was the most important element of protection for a Plains man riding
into battle. But it was not the rawhide that protected him. The protection came
from the spiritual power of the image that was drawn or painted upon the shield.
The image of the buffalo, which appears on this shield, came in a dream to a young
Crow Indian man by the name of Humped Wolf.