Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
Fall 2000
Citation
Great Plains Quarterly Vol. 20, No. 4, Fall 2000, pp. 259-80.
Abstract
Until the 1800s Indian warriors of the Plains recorded significant heroic events from their adventures and pursuits in pictographs, on hide. Then, during the nineteenth century, these pictographs began to be produced on paper as well. About the same time that paper was coming into use, canvas and muslin became available, and the drawings that had formerly been composed on hide began to appear on these new materials. Typically, Indian men made use of discarded or captured ledgers, memorandum books, or rosters to render their exploit narratives; the representation of such events on these materials is referred to as ledger art.1
The subject matter in ledger biography was much the same as that of hide painting, where narratives revealing coup scenes appeared on tipi-liners, mats, and robes. These scenes included horse captures, counting coup, and other confrontations with enemies. The great theme of Plains Indian biographic narrative was counting coup, and integral to this was the chase. Touching an enemy with a coup stick, defeating an enemy in battle, and capturing enemy horses are visual instantiations of this theme. Used as a text in the social context of oratory, the pictorial narratives were echoed by song, dance, and drama. In cultures with oral narrative traditions, storytelling is a vibrant communal force, and occasions for oral narrative are numerous. Among Plains Indi~ ns, pictography and oral narrative were sustained together as a social medium-they dramatized society's view of the world, as well as appropriate behaviors and relationships.
Among Plains warriors, what have been called autobiographies were particularly common.2 These records represented important events of valor in their lives as warriors, deeds that entitled them to special honors.3 The pictographic narratives were primarily concerned with representing scenes of interaction, usually involving pursuit or confrontation. Features of the surrounding environment are likely to be sparse. People and horses are the primary figures in these interactions, in scenes that typically refer to the opposition of two embattled individuals or groups. Warriors rose in esteem not only by behaving honorably but just as importantly by committing these deeds to public record. When a warrior's deeds were socially acknowledged and honored, he gained rank, respect, and influence.4
This essay looks at three picto-narratives that chronicle Sitting Bull's deeds as a warrior. The earliest is thought to have been composed around 1870, before captivity, and the other two after his surrender. The three records are commonly referred to by the family name of those who donated them to a particular museum. All are considered fundamentally traditional in both subject matter and technique. The Kimball and Smith records are in the possession of the National Anthropological Archives of the Smithsonian Institution. The Quimby record is held by the Fort St. Joseph Museum of Niles, Michigan. Figure 1 is from the Kimball record, which is the earliest document. Sitting Bull later acknowledged creating an original and leaving it in the care of his "brother," Jumping Bull. While in Jumping Bull's care, at least two copies of the record were made by Four Horns, Sitting Bull's uncle. According to some sources, warriors would carry their picto-narratives with them into battle, reenacting their deeds in camps along the way.5 Many of the ledger drawings in collections today were taken from the bodies of slain Indians. Others, such as this one from the Kimball record, were sold, traded for provisions, or given as gifts. In August 1870 the Kimball record was brought to Fort Buford by an Indian and traded for provisions worth $1.50.
Comments
Copyright 2000 by the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln