Save Zoom Image View Large Image
Plate Navigation

Horse effigy | Buffalo Dreamer with San Dance Flags

Ethnographic Notes

Page 19: Horse effigy

The drawing of the horse lunging forward with bent forelegs appears to be a copy of the front portion of the Horse effigy made by Joseph No Two Horns in the North Dakota Historical Society. A very similar Horse Effigy appears to be by different maker, was collected by Mary C. Collings on the Standing Rock Reservation between 1884 and 1910. It is now at the South Dakota State Historical Society.

Page 20: Buffalo Dreamer with San Dance Flags

This Transformed Buffalo Dreamer continues the alternation of red and blue with the legs and feet, and presumably the horns, and arms, although only one side is visible here. Circles along the side of the body show places to receive spiritual energy. The Sun Dance banners are red and green with a feather adorn the top. The Buffalo person holds a hoop, the top in blue and bottom in yellow with a twisted rope effect. The drawing is a direct copy, with the flag colors reversed, of a Walter Bone Shirt Drawing at the University of Montana Mansfield Library.

The original image of the drawing is in the Walter Bone Shirt Ledger - Mansfield Library, plate3. Suspended in the middle of the hoop in the Bone Shirt drawing is the image of a dragonfly in its larval state. The flying pattern of the dragonfly, and its water-land-air life cycle, serve as both model and catalyst for transformation.

According to Mike Cowdrey, this set of Walter Bone Shirt drawings were acquired by Lt. John S. Parke at the Rosebud Reservation in 1890-1891, so the complier of this autograph album must have seen them before that date.


Comment (0) All Comments For This Ledger
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Alternative Views
Provenance

• Roy Oswalt, Ancient Arts Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, sold around 2008-2010. • Michael D. Higgins, Antique ...

Read More
Add Note
Request Permission To Publish
Document Info
Plate No: 12
Page No: 19-20
Media: ink, pencil, color pencil, crayon
Dimensions: 5.75 x 3.75 inches
Custodian
Plains Ledger Art Digital Publishing Project (PILA), Mandeville Special Collections, UCSD Libraries, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA
Essays
  • There are no essays for this ledger.
Videos
  • There are no video for this ledger.