The war shirt represents the Cheyenne Bow String Society, the original owners of the gourd dance songs. It once belonged to Ralph Whitetail, a ceremonial priest and member of the Cheyenne gourd clan.

The rattle is used in the gourd dance to mimic the sound of the Bow String warrior's quivers as they danced on the plains. Early rattles were made from dried gourds, but the Cheyenne began to make rattles from saltshakers, oilcans, and other common objects in the 1960s.

A long time ago, the wolf would come and talk to us, the Cheyenne. The Cheyenne Bow String Society would always go into war parties looking for the enemy, and the wolf felt sorry for them. He told the Bow Strings that he would give them special songs that would help them to be successful in battle.

While the wolf was teaching these victory songs to the Cheyenne warriors out on the plains, Kiowa warriors heard the Bow Strings singing. The Kiowa went up on a hill to see where the songs were coming from and looked down at the Bow Strings dancing. They danced up and down, bending their knees. As they danced, the bow quivers on their backs made a rattling noise.

The Kiowa warriors sneaked up on the Bow Strings, captured them, and took them to another place where they made the Bow Strings sing their victory songs all night. After they sang the songs, the Kiowa killed all of them. That is how the Kiowa stole the victory songs from the Cheyenne Bow Strings.

Today, these songs are known as gourd dance songs, and the Cheyenne use rattles to imitate the sound made by the bow quivers. There are many active gourd dance organizations, such as the Watonga Cheyenne Veterans and the Star Hawk Society of the Arapaho. The Cheyenne Bow String Society still exists and is getting stronger year by year.

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