Commercial stainless steel bucket, with an interior brushed finish, and an exterior polished finish. Handle is made of stainless steel rod semi-circle with hook ends, and folds flat to bucket rim. Painted design on bucket. The background color is lime green that blends into hunter green. The central part of the design has in the foreground a peyote ceremonial water drum and drum stick, in the background there is a horsehair tipped staff, gourd rattle with horsehair tip, a scissor-tail feather fan grouped in 3 and 10 feathers, and anhinga tail feather fan grouped in 6 and 5 feathers (one anhinga feather in each group has the barring depicted. All scissor-tail feather' quill wrapping in purple/lavender/fuchsia/orange, feathers are white with black tips. Anhinga feathers' wrapping in black, blue-green, fuchsia, orange. One tail feather in each group has the barring depicted. Behind on the right side of the instrument is a night sky in hunter green with dot stars, 3 Christian cross stars, and the Milky Way galaxy, all in pale yellow. On the left side of the panel in the lower corner is a peyote cactus button in oblique view. Radiating out around the button are stepped, zig-zag, and spiral designs in concentric circles, all in pale yellow. Painter's logo/signature on the lower right corner of the design: LARGO with ladder on left side and double line underneath, yellow paint. No manufacturer's stamp on bucket.

Navajo individuals became major suppliers of ritual items to other tribes within the Native American Church.

Tags: pail, painted, water bucket, peyotism
People: Native American Church, probably Navajo
Places: Southern Plains, Oklahoma, Southwest
Purpose: ceremonial use, peyote meetings, commercial sale

From interviews with Dr. Garrick Bailey, 2018-2020 University of Tulsa, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology