This Lakota cosmetic bag belonged to Owns a Yellow Shield, a Miniconju Sioux. His wife made it from a recycled legging strip, joined together hidden by a beaded row. The back of the bag is a cut-up parfleche, painted with trade colors such as red vermillion. In the early days it was common to reuse objects, or borrow items from a relative to complete a project when there was pressure to complete it on time. The bag has tin cones with red horse hair to accent the bag. A tie on the back side is to hang the cosmetic bag on the tipi liner of the man's side.
The board for the mirror was recessed to hold the mirror, and brass tacks help secure it. The mirror appears to be an early trade mirror and has lost some of its silver backing so it does not reflect well. The tweezers are a trade item and such were very popular with soldiers during the Civil War. Unlike soldiers who used tweezers to pull out thorns and objects, the Lakota used them to extract facial hair, such as whiskers and eye brows.
