Beaded hide Sioux Elk Dreamers’ Society tobacco bag – $50,000-60,000 at Cowan's auction on September 18.
The bull elk was deemed to have special powers associated with courtship and members of the Elk Dreamers’ Society performed ceremonies in special costumes with dances.
The 3ft (90cm) long bag is dated to the fourth quarter of the 19th century and is decorated with pictorial panels featuring a warrior, a horse and rider and pipes to one side and a spotted elk and an Elk Dancer to the other.
Estimate $50,000-60,000.
