Beaded Blue & White Lizard Amulet by Sonnie Drum (Mandan, Hidatsa & Arikara)

Light and dark blue provide a strong contrast to the white background in this striking beaded lizard amulet by Sonnie Drum.

 

Among the Northern Plains tribes, a baby's umbilical cord is placed in a buckskin amulet -- lizards for boys and turtles for girls -- which are kept close at hand for the rest of the person's life, to protect them and to keep them connected to Mother Earth.

 

Length of lizard 6", width 3"