Recently, curator John Lukavic shared the story of a Pawnee bear claw necklace in the Denver Art Museum's Indigenous Arts of North America collection with Steven Zucker, co-founder and executive editor of Smarthistory. Watch the video to hear their conversation and learn more about the history of this remarkable object.
The bear claw necklace was on view in Stampede: Animals in Art.
...the wearer of this [was believed to have] the power of the bear to protect them [and] their community from enemies in warfare as well as from sickness and disease.