Description

Besides an obvious respect a collector should show towards the grandeur of Plains Indian fully beaded costuming, one should not neglect the more intimate sides of parental relationships in which child fantasy and maternal affection find common ground. When Joyce Growing Thunder mentioned to me that she had made a belt buckle for her little son, Jack, depicting a Ninja Turtle warrior as if caught on a candid camera, I asked to see it and [was] immediately totally captivated by its charm and crazy sense of fantasy. As Joyce explained it, Jack doesn’t feel he is related to Ninja Turtles, he is a Ninja Turtle in every dimension! Eventually, I was able to acquire this badge of child’s honor…. It retains a place of honor on my collection shelf!
— Ralph T. “Ted” Coe

 

When I look at this buckle, made by a loving mother for her son, I think of the Tweety Bird beaded braid ties my mom had made for my sister and the Snoopy shawl that was gifted to me by relatives from Oklahoma when we were little. I had a thing for that black-and-white cartoon dog, and I carried my stuffed Snoopy doll around with me everywhere. I loved Snoopy, and I loved dancing in that shawl. Michelangelo, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle on this buckle, isn’t exactly a traditional Native American motif, but the love and attention to the interests of a child that compelled Joyce to make this for her son Jack, certainly is a traditional Indian value.
—Terri Greeves, May 2014