Dush-toh
A dush-toh, also spelled dush-too, dush-tooh, or dush-tuh, is a customary
Turkey Dance.[1]
Neighboring tribes, such as the Kickapoo and Delaware, have similar women's hair ornaments.
A dush-toh consists of an embellished, butterfly- or hourglass-shaped frame that is worn on the back of the head with ribbons that flow down the back, almost to the ground. They were made in the 19th and 20th centuries,[2] as well as into the present.
Frame
The top of the butterfly-shaped frame is typically 4.25 inches wide and the bottom is usually 4-5/8 inches wide. The frame is 7.5 inches tall. The frame can be covered in black felt and edged with colored ribbons on both sides. Further embellishments include white
German silver spots can be attached to the frame and beaded rosettes may be used to decorate the center of the frame.[2]
Ribbons
Turkey Dance, Caddo Tribal Complex, Binger, Oklahoma
, 2000. The dush-toh worn by the dancer on the far left is visible.The ribbons, usually of
German silver medallions, or beadwork rosettes.[2]
Classes
The Caddo Nation offers classes in making dush-tohs to Caddo youth during their annual summer camp.[1]
Notes
- ^ a b "Summer Youth Camp." Archived 2010-02-24 at the Wayback Machine Caddo Nation: Heritage and Culture. (retrieved 3 Feb 2010)
- ^ a b c Ellison 11
- ^ a b Newkumet and Meredith, 42
References
- Ellison, Rosemary. Contemporary Southern Plains Indian Metalwork. Anadarko, OK: Oklahoma Indian Arts and Crafts Cooperative, 1976. Library of Congress Number 75-40659.
- Newkumet, Vynola Beaver and Howard L. Meredith. Hasinai: A Traditional History of the Caddo People. College Station: Texas A&M Press, 1988. ISBN 0-89096-342-8.
External links
- Image of Caddo women wearing dush-tohs[permanent dead link], Encyclopedia of Arkansas
- Dush-toh from 1900, Dush-toh from 1880–1900, National Museum of the American Indian