Native American Indians
Karl Bodmer
Native American Indians through the eyes of Karl Bodmer
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Indian Utensils and Arms
An important ethnographical record centering on Bodmer's careful drawing of a buffalo robe
decorated by the Mandan Chief Mató-Tópe with a depiction of several of his exploits including
a hand-to-hand battle with a Cheyenne Chief (the original was purchased by Prince Maximilian
and is now in the Linden-Museum in Stuttgart, Germany). Surrounding the robe are various
other objects, including a pipe that had belonged to Dipäuch, a respected elder of the Mandan
Tribe, as well as a snow-shoe, a fashioned ermine skin and a knife in a bead-fringed scabbard.
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Mähsette-Kuiuab
Mähsette-Kuiuab (`Le Sonant'
as he was known by the French) was a powerful Cree chief and medicine man. He apparently
used a bear skull as a charm or emblem and was considered particularly adept at telling the
future. His body tattoos are very striking, but were not uncommon amongst the Cree where
they were a feature of their culture: the woman tattooed for decoration, the men for
religious reasons or reflection of rank. The Cree were the southernmost of the major
subarctic tribes, and were well placed for trade between the Chippewyan to the north
and the Chippewa to the south.
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Indians hunting the Bison
Bodmer had taken an active part in a Buffalo hunt which took place on 11 October 1833
near Fort Union, as the travelers made their way back down the Missouri from Fort McKenzie
to Fort Clarke where they were to overwinter. In the present image four Indians on horseback,
armed only with bows and arrows, ride furiously in amongst the scattering herd of buffalo, the
foremost figure has just brought down a large animal to his left, but has turned and already
notched another arrow to his bow which he sights at another animal in front and to the right.
A composite view, the animals are probably sketched from individuals Bodmer recorded during
the October hunt.
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Wahk-Tä-Ge-Li. A Sioux Warrior
Wahk-Tä-ge-Li was a six foot six inch Yankton Sioux chief,
a man of power and substance. His Sioux name meant `Gallant Warrior' and he was known
to the Americans as `Big Soldier'. About sixty years old at the time of his portrait,
he is shown wearing moccasins, leggings, and shirt embroidered with a band of brightly
dyed porcupine quills. The fringe on the shirtsleeve is human hair from a Mandan foe. The
feathers bound to his head represent enemies slain in battle. In his ears he wear long strings
of blue glass beads, and around his neck hangs a large peace medal presented by the
government. His robe is tanned to an unusual whiteness and in his hand is the pipe-tomahawk he smoked occasionally whilst posing for Bodmer.
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Woman of the Snake Tribe
Woman of the Cree Tribe
Double-portrait composed by Bodmer from individual portraits made at Forts McKenzie
and Union. On the left is a Shoshone (or Shoshoni) woman wife
of Marcereau, a fur company employee based at Fort McKenzie. Bodmer sketched her
in June 1833. There were a number of Shoshone women at the fort
captured from their home territory west of the Rocky Mountains
by raiding Blackfeet. To the right is a Cree woman, married to Deschamps, employed by the
fur company. She was sketched by Bodmer in October 1833 at
Fort Union. The blue-black patterning to the chin is a distinctive Cree pattern.
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Ptihn-Tak-Ochatä. Dance of the Mandan Women
The dance of the women of the Mandan White Buffalo Cow Society was performed at Fort
Clark on 25 December 1833. Bodmer and Prince Maximilian
overwintered at Fort Clark, between the Knife and Heart Rivers in the territory of the
Mandans and the Hidatsas, and used their time to record in detail the life,
history and beliefs of the Indian Tribes around them. Both the Mandans and the Hidatsas
were divided into age-graded societies into which a person purchased
membership as he or she got older. The White Buffalo Cow Society was one of four such
amongst the women of the Mandan, and they had special hats made of rectangular pieces
of the rare and sacred white buffalo hide.
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Sih-Chidä & Mahchsi-Karehde. Mandan Indians
Left is Sih-Chidä (`Yellow Feather'), he wears the beaded hair brows with long strings of dentalium
shells and beads, a member of the Dog Society, the cluster of feathers at the back
of his head may be an insignia of that group. Around his neck is draped a tippet of otter fur,
the ends fringed with quill-wrapped leather. His heel-trailers are made of otter fur lined with
red cloth representing battle exploits.
Right is Mahchsi-Karehde (`Flying War Eagle'),
who at just over six feet was the tallest of the Mandan. He was a member of band of warriors that regulated the important affairs
of the tribe. The wolf tail on his heels and painted eagle feather in his hair denote battle coup.
His rich clothing and general demeanor all denote a proud and successful man.
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Saukie and Fox Indians
The Sauk (or Sac) and Fox (Mesquaki or Muskwaki) had come to St.Louis in March of 1833 to plead for the release of Chief Black Hawk
who had engaged in a series of running battles with the US army which had ended in his
defeat and capture on 3 August 1832. Bodmer pictures this alert but wary group as they
await a decision from the government. All are shown with a crestlike ornament made of stiff
deer hair on their heads (some with an inserted feather indicating success in battle). Most
carry weapons: a stone-headed club, a musket, a musket-stock axe or a spear. Following
a bloody defeat by the French in 1730, the Fox united with their kinsmen the Sauk, and
made peace with the French in 1740.
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Mexkemahuastan.
Chief of the Gros-ventres de Prairies
Bodmer painted this portrait of Mexkemáuastan (`Stirring Iron'), an Atsina or Gros Ventre chief
and medicine man, about 5th August 1833. The keelboat Flora stopped opposite an Atsina
camp at the mouth of the Judith River and was quickly overrun by friendly but insistent Atsinas,
including `Stirring Iron'. He gave particular cause for concern because he had threatened to kill
David Mitchell (the superintendant of Fort McKenzie) the previous year. However, on this
occasion, and later at Fort McKenzie he gave no further cause for concern.
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Offering of the Mandan Indians
Bodmer painted this potent scene of a Mandan skull shrine in November of 1833, shortly
before the onset of winter. The shrine was located near the burial ground of Mih-Tutta-
Hang-Kusch, and was related to the Mandan beliefs regarding the human body after death
and was used as a fasting ground for those seeking supernatural powers. Bodmer and
Prince Maximilian overwintered at Fort Clark, between the Knife and Heart Rivers in the
territory of the Mandans and the Hidatsas, and made full use of their time to record in detail
the life, history and beliefs of the Indian Tribes around them.
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Pitätapiú, Assiniboin Indians
The figure in the foreground is Pitätapiú, a young warrior and
member of the Stone band with his hair ornamented with two small shells. On his left arm
is a rawhide shield, painted and with an amulet attached to assure success on horse raids.
A riding whip with a wooden handle hangs from a fur loop around his wrist. In his right hand
he holds a combination bow/lance that was probably only for ceremonial purposes. The name
of the figure in the background is not known, he was initially very
solemn until Bodmer's music box made him laugh. His quilted and beaded shirt is fringed with
leather rather than the more usual hair. He cradles a much-prized trade flintlock in the crook
of his left arm.
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Dacota Woman and Assiniboin Girl
A composite from drawings made by Bodmer 1st June
1833 and October 1833. The woman is Chan-Chä-Uiá-Teüin (`Woman of the Crow Nation')
painted at Fort Pierre, her dress is trimmed with white beads and has a
fringe of twisted metal cones (`tinklers') at the hem which made a musical sound
as she walked. Over the dress she wears a painted summer robe of buffalo skin with the hair
removed, the colourful pattern on the robe is called a box and border style. The child is an
unusual subject for Bodmer, a little Blackfoot girl but living with the Assiniboins: perhaps a
captive taken during a skirmish. She wears leggings and ornaments that are smaller versions
of those worn by adults.
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Mándeh-Páhchu. A young Mandan Indian
Mándeh-Páhchu (`Eagle's Beak') is richly adorned with beaded hair-brows with long strings of alternating blue
beads and dentalium shells tipped with what appear to be strips of ermine fur; large square
earings, probably of abalone shell; an ermine tail, fur bands and heavy beads hang in his hair;
and around his neck, two types of bead necklaces. Mándeh-Páhchu carries a wooden flute
decorated with otter fur, and is wrapped in a buffalo hide robe.
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The above sample shown are smaller than the actual sizes of the
backgrounds
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