Earring - A ring or hook worn in a slit in the ear and from which usually hung some type of ornament.  The earring denoted wealth and was a mark of distinction.  The ear holes of both boys and girls were bored or cut by medicine men at special ceremonies and paid for by the parents or relatives.

Holes were not only made in the lobe of ear but sometimes around the rim, and the more holes, the more honor and respect they commanded.  The earrings themselves were often a foot long and fashioned from brightly colored shells.  many other articles were worn in the ears.  Chief Quanah Parker of the Comanche was once described as having a brightly colored stuffed bird in each ear as an earring.
 
 

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