Northern Cheyenne Ledger-Kansas State Historical Society

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ANIMALS, BUFFALO: Female Buffalo and Calf; WAR, WARRIOR: Man on White-and-gray Pinto Carries a Lance

Ethnographic Notes

24 Bison and baby bison. The female's body is black ink, with detailing of split hooves, horns, and shaggy beard and forelegs is done in pencil. The eyes are represented by the white space left by unpainted circular areas. The calf is all pencil. In none of these does the calf have eyes represented. This is one of eight nearly identical drawings in this ledger with a buffalo female and calf: Plates 11-18. For further discussion, see plate 11. 25, reversed. Warrior on a gray-and-white pinto horse wears an eagle headdress with single trail trimmed in red cloth. He wears a gray cloth shirt accented with nickel-silver armbands. In his right hand he carried a lance tipped with a point; it has two sets of eagle feathers on the shaft. He wears a red clout and gray cloth leggings (see plate 9). His horse's tail is "clubbed" or tied up with red cloth. The scalp at its mouth is attached to a circle of hide colored half red and half black (heavy lead pencil). These may represent the colors of the scalp dance ceremony (Benson Lanford in "The Pamplin Ledger American Indian Material Culture," 187). This particular warrior is repeated elsewhere in this ledger, wearing the same distinctive war bonnet. See Plates 9 and 10 for further discussion. Media: Lead pencil outlines, details, and fill; red watercolor details


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Drawn in 1879 by one or more Northern Cheyenne prisoners in the Dodge City jail held for trial after breaking ...

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Document Info
Plate No: 14
Page No: 24-25
Media: Lead pencil outlines, details, and fill, black ink; Lead pencil outlines, details, and fill, red watercolor details
Dimensions: 3.25 x 5 in (8.5 x 12.75 cm)
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