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In doing this painting I kept thinking of today’s version of infant seats and the signs/stickers that you so commonly see in the windows of various vehicles stating “Baby On Board”. As I’ve depicted in this painting, Native American infant carriers were certainly no where as sophisticated as modern versions and they’ve been known by many different names. Although “Papoose” is one of the more popular terms, the actual term should be “Cradleboard”. These infant carriers were also known as cradle-boards, baby boards, baby carriers, and again more inaccurately, papooses. Cradleboards are best known to non-Native children from countless depictions of the Shoshone/Hidatsa explorer Sacagawea, who famously carried her newborn son on her back as part of the Lewis and Clark expedition. In fact, cradleboards have long been an important technology in the history and culture of many different North American tribes.