Black Hawk c. 1832 - 1890

1. Black Hawk c. 1832 - 1890 “Sans Arc Lakota” Ledger Book 1880 - 1881

2. Black Hawk by George Catlin

4. Black Hawk was hard-pressed to feed his family of four during the harsh winter of 1880–1881. • His tribe, the Sans Arc, or Itázipčho band, was one of seven divisions of the Lakota, a nomadic group of Plains Indians who followed the great herds of buffalo that fed, clothed, and housed them.

5. Great Plains

9. The buffalo herds had been hunted to near extinction, mostly by the settlers who came in increasing numbers, and the Plains tribes were being moved to reservations.

10. Black Hawk, a spiritual leader, had a vision dream, which William Edward Caton, the Indian trader at the Cheyenne Agency in Dakota, asked him to record, offering fifty cents in trade for every drawing he would make.

11. Statement from Canton’s Daughter This series of sketches by Black Hawk represents the incidences in a long dream which he had. The winter of 1880 – 1881 was very severe at the Cheyenne Agency at the Dakota. My father William Edward Canton, was Indian trader at the agency, having been appointed At the agency in 1878. He was held in high esteem by the Indians and was their great friend.

12. Black Hawk, Chief Medicine man on the Souix was in great straights that winter, having Several squaws and numerous children dependant upon him. He had absolutely nothing, and would not beg. Father knew his condition, and he also knew that he had had a wonderful dream. So he sent for him and asked him to make pictures of his dream, offering to give him paper and pencils, and to give him 50 cents in trade at the store for each sheet he brought in. Father gave him what paper he had on hand, which was ordinary double foolscrap, ink, paper and pencils.

13. The Cheyenne Agency used to be 30 miles north of old Fort Pierrre. Father took the sheets to Minneapolis, and had them mounted and properly bound. ---Statement made by Mrs. Edith M. Teall, 411 Cajon Street, Redlands, August 21, 1932

14. Black Hawk’s drawings were made during the 1800s, a time of great change for American Indians. • As paper and art tools were acquired through trade and other means, ledger art became a favorite form of art for Plains Indian tribes. • Ledger books were valued because they were portable and provided many surfaces for drawing and painting, either on blank pages or superimposed on used ones. • Black Hawk’s drawings followed a long tradition of Plains Indian art. Lakota men painted images on their teepees and buffalo hide robes to show off their brave deeds.

15. Black Hawk produced seventy-six drawings over the course of the winter and received thirty-eight dollars in exchange, a sizable amount for the time.

16. Black Hawk's drawings include seventeen warfare scenes, seventeen natural history scenes featuring fifteen animal species, and numerous drawings of Lakota ceremonies, Black Hawk's spiritual visions, and depictions of the Lakota’s life. • A statement by Caton's daughter and bound into the volume reiterates that Black Hawk was a "Chief Medicine men" and "was in great straits" in the winter of 1880-1881 with "several squaws and numerous children dependent upon him.“ • It continues: "He had absolutely nothing, no food, and would not beg.“ • The drawings were produced in exchange for credit at Caton's store.

21. In 1994, the book (by then in a private collection) sold at auction for nearly $400,000. • Four-hundred thousand dollars.

22. Black Hawk’s drawings followed a long tradition of Plains Indian art. • Lakota men painted images on their teepees and buffalo hide robes to display their accomplishments and brave deeds. • Winter counts (communal histories of tribes or families) were also painted on buffalo hide.

23. Each year, which began with the first snowfall, an image of an event that affected the whole group was added, serving as a memory aid for oral renditions of the tribe’s history.

25. As cloth, paper, and art tools were acquired through trade or in raids, the Lakota began to make images with these materials as well. • Ledger books were valued because they were portable and provided many surfaces for drawing and painting, either on blank pages or superimposed on used ones.

26. Ledger Art • Ledger Art is a term for Plains Indian narrative drawing or painting on paper or cloth. Ledger art was primarily from the 1860s to the 1930s, but also continuing into the present. • The term comes from the accounting ledger books that were a common source for paper for Plains Indians during the late 19th century.

28. Among Plains tribes, women traditionally paint abstract, geometrical designs; • Whereas, men paint representational designs. The men's designs were often heraldic devises or visions painted on shields, tipis, shirts, leggings, or robes. • They frequently painted personal feats in battle or hunting

29. Black Hawk’s work, though one of the finest examples, is not technically a ledger book, for he drew on separate sheets of paper that were bound in leather by Caton.

30. http://www.thirteen.org/picturing-america/black-hawkcatlin/

32. Plains pictorial art emphasizes narrative action and eliminates unnecessary detail or backgrounds. • Figures tended to be drawn in hard outlines and filled with solid fields of color.

33. Black Hawk drew only two images of his dream before he began to record the natural world and Lakota customs and ceremonies. • He even recorded processions of Crow warriors, traditional enemies of the Lakota.

35. In this image (8-B.1), the Crow are recognizable by their hairstyle: • a short tuft swept up at the forehead, and • long plaits augmented with extensions and • daubed with clay in the back.

37. The Crow were known for their beauty, and Black Hawk recorded and described their appearance in detail.

41. Clues When looking at pictures

42. Several sport metal bands on their upper arms, and all wear multiple-strand necklaces of white-shell beads (wampum),

43. Feathers • Precious eagle feathers (twelve feathers were equal in value to a horse). • Some feathers decorate the hair • or are carried as fans—two with additional tiers of feathers—

44. Feathers • While others adorn war lances and forked coup sticks. • (Touching an enemy with a coup stick in battle showed a man’s bravery.)

45. Faces are painted red and some bodies are painted red or yellow.

46. The C-shaped horse prints on the middle two figures indicate skill in battle;

47. another man’s legs are marked with diagonal lines that mean “strikes the enemy.”

48. Three men carry beaded and fringed bags to hold the mirrors they acquired through trade.