Why are Native American shields so important to them?

Answer 1

In the past and mainly among the Plains tribes, shields counted as "medicine bundles" and were thought to hold great spiritual and protective power.

"Medicine" in this connection means anything sacred, powerful, religious and supernatural. The design on the shield would be revealed to a warrior in a vision by a spirit being, often in the guise of a talking animal; there might be additional aspects such as certain birds or animals whose stuffed skins, claws, feathers or bones would be attached to the shield.

Shields were thought to protect a warrior in four ways (four being a sacred number):

1. They were round, a shape considered sacred and correct - consider the round floor plan of tipis, the round camp circle, the vast round horizon of the Plains, the bird's nest, the whirlwind, the sun and moon - all are round.
2. They were constructed of the thickest part of a bull buffalo's hide, carefully treated with heat to thicken them further so they would stop an enemy's arrow.
3. They were painted with a sacred and protective image provided by a spirit "helper"
4. They had feathers and other objects attached that would add to the magical protective power of the shield. Certain shields were considered so powerful that they could foretell the future.

The link below takes you to an image of Crow warrior Two Leggings holding a shield originally made for another warrior (this image has been reversed). It has a black line on the white upper half, symbolising night going away, a red lower half symbolising the dawn, and a black hand representing the sacred constellation known as the Seven Stars. The two attached eagle feathers made the owner swift and strong: