An Otter-Skin Turban and Mescal Bean Bandolier with Beaded Hide Pendant. Kiowa, Southern Plains. Attributed to Belo Cozad.

An elaborate ensemble combining an otter-skin turban with a long mescal bean bandolier, both decorated with multicolored beadwork. The turban is fashioned from lustrous brown fur, with a broad headband and an elongated overlying strip bearing circular beaded rosettes. Red, pink, and yellow ribbon tabs project from beneath the roundels, introducing bright accents against the dark pelt. Red cloth borders are edged with closely arranged beads and ornamented with small metal spangles, each secured by a bead at its center.

The bandolier comprises long strands of polished, deep red mescal beans and brass-colored beads, interrupted by sections of fine geometric beadwork. Suspended from the strands is a small hide pouch with a rounded body, a buttoned flap, and long, corded hide fringe. Different radial compositions ornament its two faces: one centers on a stamped metal button surrounded by alternating green, yellow, and orange elements, while the other employs contrasting wedges and concentric borders. Narrow metal sleeves near the ends of the fringe provide a dark accent against the pale hide.

Mescal bean bandoliers occupied a place in several Southern Plains ceremonial settings. They are documented in Kiowa Gourd Dance regalia and were characteristic elements of dress worn at peyote meetings in Oklahoma during the first half of the twentieth century..

The attribution to Belo Cozad is of particular interest. Remembered as a prominent Kiowa flute player, Cozad also belonged to a documented lineage of makers and teachers. During research at the Smithsonian, Kiowa artist Phil R. Dupoint identified a ceremonial fan as Cozad’s work and explained that Cozad had taught fan making to Tom Little Chief, who subsequently instructed Dupoint. He further described the formal transmission of rights to beadwork designs originating with Cozad.