Beaded Blue Turtle Amulet by Leon & Sandy Soldier (Oglala Lakota)

A sunburst of light and dark blue beads is accentuated by outlines of sparkling silver beads in this beaded turtle amulet by Rose Good. Two long buckskin strips with metal cones attached and a bell at the end of a daisy chain dangle from the tail of the turtle.

 

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 turtle 3 1/4", width 2 1/2", total length 10"