Black &
Purple Roach
Northern Plains
Collected 1881
Ogden B. Read Collection
Crow Roach
1900's
Denver Art Museum
Collection
Crow Roach
1900's
Denver Art Museum
Collection
Note the orange & pink striped deer hair
Roach - ca. 1900
Matoska Trading Company Collection
Bottom view of above roach - ca. 1900 - Notice how base is made from many rows of tied deer tail.
Roach with beaded
spreader
early 20th century
Matoska Trading Company
Collection
Roach - possibly late
19th century
Top & Bottom Views
Most of porcupine guard
hair is gone
Matoska Trading Company Collection
 The porcupine hair roach is a head ornament worn by men. It is typically constructed of porcupine guard hair (not quills) and hair from the tail of the white-tail deer. Some roaches from the southern plains are constructed using black turkey beards. The exact origins of the roach are not known for certain. There is some conjecture that they were originally worn as part of society regalia and may have originated among the Missouri River tribes. However, this is not certain. From drawings by Charles Bird King and George Catlin (among others), we do know that roaches were in common use in the early 19th century and it is likely that they were in use much earlier. The roach worn by Buffalo Bull can be clearly seen in this drawing by George Catlin in 1832:
|
Buffalo Bull
|
| By the end of the 19th century, the roach was commonly worn by male dancers. If the
roach ever was symbolic of a society member, it certainly was no longer at that time.
|
|
Lakota Dancers - ca. 1920 - Rosebud Reservation |
|
Ledger drawing by Making Medicine - 1876
|
| Today, the roach is worn by most male dancers. There is no society association today, but some dancers do wear certain colors for various personal or religious reasons. Most of the time, the colors are chosen to match the dance clothes. |
|
Derwin Velarde (Jicarilla Apache) |
