Northern Cheyenne Ledger-Kansas State Historical Society

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ANIMAL, ELK; BIRDS, TURKEY

Ethnographic Notes

78A bull elk runs from right to left across the page (extended legs show motion). He has dark shoulders and yellow body. He has a rack of antlers (four by four points), and his round eye is created by an outlined circle of unpigmented paper, contrasting with the dark hide around it. Penciled details include antlers, ears, beard, split hooves, dewclaws, genitalia, midsection (ribs ?), and tail. Composition of the drawing resembles the same right-to-left, full-page orientation of human warrior portraits. Twelve nearly identical images of this male elk appear in this ledger (plates 19-23; 30, 32, 37-41). See discussion for plate 19. 79 One large male turkey fills the page, facing to the left. The bird is outlined in pencil. It has no eyes or beak; however, the wattle, wings, spurs, and claws are detailed. The striped and variegated wings are depicted in a checkered pattern in pencil. Its large body, the forelegs and tailfeathers are shaded in pencil. Red watercolor is used for the head and throat fill, so that the outstretched head contrasts with the rest of the bird. See previous plate (38) for further discussion of turkeys in this and related ledgers.


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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: 41
Page No: 78-79
Media: Lead pencil outline, detail, and fill; yellow crayon; Lead pencil outline, details, fill; red watercolor
Dimensions: 3.25 x 5 in (8.5 x 12.75 cm)
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Kansas Historical Historical Society

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