by Coleman Gothard
Have you ever wondered what the Great Plains looked like 200 years ago? Nebraska, Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming, Kansas, and the Dakotas these territories are all contributors to what was once called the Great Plains. The Great Plains played host to numerous tribes such as the Blackfoot, Sioux, Lakota, apache, crow, and Chichimec peoples. These native tribes thrived on the Great Plains due to several contributing factors. The biggest of these factors is the buffalo it was the main food staple of the plains Indians.
Most people view these plains Indians as chasing down buffalo on horseback. “Nowhere did Indians wear headdresses and hunt buffalo from horse back; the horse-and-buffalo culture of the plains Indians developed much later, a by-product of contact with Europeans”[1]. So just how important was the buffalo to the tribes of the Great Plains, the buffalo was everything. When the buffalo struggled the plains tribes struggled as well. The buffalo is not only the main staple of the plains but is responsible for famine, freezing tribes, and the instigator of many wars: as stated by Calloway (2012) “ the buffalo made the great plains an arena of competition between rival tribes jostling for position of rich hunting grounds.”2
Buffalo were central in the lives of plains Indians, but tribes such as the dakota and crow only began to hunt on horse back in the second half of eighteenth . When analyzing these strategies art paintings of the apache buffalo hunt, and Kiowa ledger art will be analyzed. The apache buffalo hunt painting is authored by George Catlin in 1837, it is titled “Buffalo Hunt under the Wolf-skin Mask.”3 Depicted in this painting are 2 apaches stalking a herd of buffalo wearing nothing but a wolf pelt draped over them and armed with a bow and arrow. Buffalo hunts had to be coordinated to be successful, and a successful hunt was no easy task. Buffalo were very dangerous, and when hunted on foot native were in danger of serious injury.
http://www.cartermuseum.org/Inspiring_Visions/Catlin/catlin.html
In Catlin’s painting it appears that Catlin is from a distance while creating this particular work. This work truly shows the importance of the buffalo to not only the apache peoples but to the entire plains tribes. The two apache hunter are putting their lives on the line to feed their family with the most dangerous but abundant food source in the area. If the buffalo decided to charge the results would be devastating, and could easily lead to death for the two hunters. Catlin is a well-respected artist of the 19th century, and his work really emphasizes the depth and importance of the Native American traditions.
Catlin in my opinion portrayed the plains Indians as accurately as possible. The time and experiences he had with the tribes really opened the doors for Native American understanding. His artwork so pinpoint, so vivid such as the work portrayed in this writing. The way the buffalo and the natives are depicted it is like they are drawn to one another, but it goes further than that in the mutual understanding of you help me and I will help you. It dives into the heart and soul of the viewer and you feel the respect and the dependence that the native and the buffalo have for one another.
The next source observed is called a Kiowa ledger painting “Kiowa Buffalo Hunt.”4 This painting compared to Catlin’s is no comparison; the art really does not capture the attention of the viewer as Catlin’s work does. Even with the dull flat ledger art, it is still powerful symbolism, and if studied correctly poses a great understanding to the importance of the horse and buffalo. Though this is Kiowa art both apache and Kiowa used the horse to hunt buffalo. The hunting styles on horseback would be so similar that a difference would be hard to pick out.
The introduction of the horse was the start of a revolution on the Great Plains. Calloway (2012) said “horses transformed plains Indians into mobile communities, capable of traveling great distances and fully exploiting the rich resources of their environment”(p.182). This means that Great Plains tribes could now move greater distances faster, expand trade networks, and hunt more efficiently. Now with the introduction of the horse the buffalo hunt went from a stalk hunt to a run down and slaughter. With the introduction of the horse the apaches can now kill more food, and support larger communities at half the energy expense.
As depicted in the Kiowa ledger art one hunter is taking down one buffalo, oppose to the two apaches in Catlin’s photo focusing on one takedown. The Kiowa hunter is right alongside the buffalo and has just thrusted a spear into its side. Now all the hunter has to do is ride alongside the buffalo till it falls instead of having to track it one foot. “Lives were much harder on the plains before the horse, and life is much easier with the horse on the Plains.”5
The Kiowa painting is flat and dull as opposed to Catlin’s work, but do not discredit what the work says. It is depicting the advancement of a long time primitive society that lived long and hard without the new technologies of this world. Considering half the world away had horses for thousands of years and at times barely survived. Native Americans have had them for a mere 300 years and thrived. Even with the thriving Great Plain civilization, both of these painting depict the importance of the buffalo. With the advances in Great Plains cultures such as steel, guns, and horses, the buffalo was still the most important key for survival on the Great Plains.
Notes
[1] Colin G. Calloway, First Peoples A Documentary Survey of American Indian History
(Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012), 25.
2 Colin G. Calloway, First Peoples A Documentary Survey of American Indian History
(Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012), 183.
3 George Catlin, “Buffalo Hunt under the Wolf-skin Mask.” C.M. Russell Museum. 1833 https://www.cmrussell.org/temporary-exhibitions
4 Charles Emerson Rowell, “Kiowa Buffalo Hunt.” Boston Avenue Frame. 1909.
http://bostonavenueframetheavenuestudio.com/nativeamericanssorted.html
5 Colin G. Calloway, First Peoples A Documentary Survey of American Indian History
(Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012), 183.
Bibliography
- Colin G. Calloway, First Peoples A Documentary Survey of American Indian History
(Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012), 25,182, 183.
- Charles Emerson Rowell, “Kiowa Buffalo Hunt.” Boston Avenue Frame. http://bostonavenueframetheavenuestudio.com/nativeamericanssorted.html
- George Catlin, “Buffalo Hunt under the Wolf-skin Mask.” M. Russell Museum. 1833. https://www.cmrussell.org/temporary-exhibitions