The count begins at the top, where the hoof like symbols mark the year 1776, "The Winter Of Horse Stealing Camp" when snow bound enemies spend their time raiding each other.
A year might be chronicled by a drawing of a cosmic event, a meteor shower in 1834, a solar eclipse in 1870, or a human event ..the killing of an enemy -1815, the arrival of whiskey( a jug for 1822 ).
In one year, 1829, nothing special happened, so nothing was recorded. With the appearance of traders in 1800, the hide becomes increasingly dominated by symbols of the "White Man" ( usually symbolized in a black hat ) and his legacy: smallpox (spotted Indian ), checkered blankets, silver dollars ( small circles ).
In 1868, when whites were wiping out the buffalo, the government issued denim material for lodge covers; 1868 became "The Blue Tipi Year". A train killing an Indian marks the year 1912.
Friendship and amity ends the record as we see in 1925 Indians and whites hail the building of a new bridge and in the year 1926 the reservation loses a respected official ..his unhatted symbol says " This year a good agent left."
(excerpted from: Big Missouri Winter Count"-Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln .) (Painted Buffalo Robe - circa 1800, The Peabody Museum, Harvard University )
History Is Art:
On this page I would like to share with you some beautiful pieces of history depicted through art.I have long been interested in early records of the various Native American tribes both oral and written.
The "Winter Count" buffalo robe is a beautiful example of pictographic writing. It is both a beautiful work of art and a wonderful historical document .
Many Native American tribes used beautiful symbol writing on buffalo hides to keep records of their history.
The painter /historian/biographer of such hides left written records that enable us to get a small picture the way life was for them.
The picture shown is a tribal history buffalo robe painted by Kills Two, a Brule Medicine Man,on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.
It is called a "Winter Count" (perhaps because each winter designated a year), he has depicted the year 1926, it is 131st year added to the hide.
Beautifully Abstract Cave Drawings At the Arana Cave near Valencia, Spain,
Paleolithic painting survives of two men taking honey from a rock wall. In later cultures, honey was poured over thresholds and temple foundations, offered to Goddesses and Gods, and used in medicines and burials.
("When the Drummers were Women" by Layne Redmond) .
Photograph courtesy American Museum of Natural History, New York City
The painted ceiling at Altamira Cave remains the most famous of all Paleolithic art works.
The decorated area measures 220 yards long by 10 yards wide. This beautiful ancient work shows herds of styized bison and horses. The artist has truly and beautifully captured the spirit and essence of these animals .I know few artists today who could evoke such spirit in their work.
Mixtec king and warlord Eight Deer Jaguar Claw (right) Meeting with Four Jaguar, in a depiction from the precolumbian Codex Zouche-Nuttall
Oaxaca ocho venado
From The Great Pliains: A Beautiful Sioux dress with fully hand beaded yoke. How many hours must this woman have spent carefully sewing each bead using only sinew and bone needles. Amazing !
