Seed of the red "mescal bean," Sophora secundiflora, perforated from having been strung on a necklace.
Donor:
Blanche Trask
Collection place:
Santa Clara, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
Verbatim coll. place:
New Mexico; Santa Clara
Culture or time period:
Osage and Santa Clara
Collector:
Blanche Trask
Collection date:
1910
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Beads (pierced objects)
Function:
5.5 Stimulants, Narcotics, and Accessories
Accession date:
1910
Context of use:
Collector called it a "sacred bean." In recent times necklaces of these seeds were worn at Peyote Cult meetings by the Kiowa. In earlier times they were ingested (one half of a bean) to produce a delirious exhilaration followed by two or three days of
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
length 1 centimeters
Comment:
The bean was obtained by trade with the Osage, who also trade for them. The trees grow in south Texas. References: cf. our Kiowa necklace 2-9873. Collector called it a "sacred bean." In recent times necklaces of these seeds were worn at Peyote Cult meetings by the Kiowa. In earlier times they were ingested (one half of a bean) to produce a delirious exhilaration followed by two or three days of