Northern Plains Painted Pictorial Buffalo Robe

composed of tanned buffalo hide, finely painted on the back in brown, yellow and vermilion red, with a bear on its hind legs, the front legs extended upwards, head thrust sharply backwards, mouth parted to reveall sharp teeth, standing amidst a field of dot and dash decoration, possibly a representation of hail; each leg trimmed with fringed panels surmounted by a band of perforated holes.

Christie's New York, May 1994, lot 53
Acquired by the present owner from the above

Typical wear for age and use (some peripheral points are fragile) but overall very good condition. The painted field is in excellent condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The distinct bear image on this robe relates directly to a group of shields attributed to the Arikara. These shields are in the collection of the Buffalo Bill Historical Society in Cody, WY and are illustrated in Hansen, 2007, p. 109.

 

Bear Power Buffalo Robe

This robe is so unusual as to be unique. The robe was removed from the buffalo’s carcass intact. The head skin, which is difficult to remove, was carefully preserved by making a cute transversely behind the ears and then removing the hide from the carcass.

 

This hide was then brain-tanned. Tens of thousands of hides were tanned by Indian women for trade purpose, but these were prepared in the usual manner: in two parts, cut along the black with the two parts then sewn together again with sinew. The removal of the hide in one piece, including the nose and ears, was a laborious task reserved for those robes dedicated to a special purpose.

 

Further evidence of the care lavished on the preparation of this robe likes in its secondary decorations.  The legs are carefully slit into fringes, with holes perforated above the fringe. The selvedge of the skin is scalloped from the tail to the outer aspect of each hind leg. The tail was impressed, while the hide was still green, with a blunt instrument, in order to produce a series of parallel ridges extending its length. Both the tail and the legs are further decorated with vermillion. All of these characteristics—fringed legs, touched with vermillion, scalloped edges—are reported on skins reserved by the Indians for their personal use (cf. Thomas & Ronnefeldt 1976: 67, 137, 139, 189, 209, 220, 222, 225, 234; La Flesche 1926: 54; Fletcher & La Flesche 1905-6: 354; Conn 1979: 134, 145). It should be noted, however, that the majority of examples are to be found on early specimens; robes and shirts collected, portrayed or reported before circa 1850. The small holes above the fringe, and the impressed tail, I have not found on any other specimens; certainly, they cannot have been common refinements.

 

In the collection of the Buffalo Bill Historical Society are two shields, which have been on exhibition since the museum opened in 1970. Both are ascribed to the Hidatsas, and both are clearly by the same artist. One shield has two standing bears painted against a red-streaked background, and is decorated with two eagle fluffs, probably representing the bear’s breath or voice. One bear is painted in solid brown lignite; the other is painted yellow, with brown-black sports, like a jaguar. The other shield has but one standing bear, brown-black on a yellow background, and is flanked on either side by black bear ears. No date is assigned to them, but they clearly antedate the reservation period.

 

The robe we are examining here is by the same artist who produced the shields; yet the decoration of the robe, which also shows a standing black bear against a yellow background spangled with red dots, is not a copy of either shield. This is in accordance with standard practice among Plains Indian artists, who, even when producing more than one shield or other medicine object, derived from the same vision, usually produced slight variations in the design or color. Such variations were intentional.

 

Although the robe was thought by the collector to be Sioux, the Hidatsa attribution of the Cody shields is correct. For one thing, we may compare the stylistic representation of the bear to other known Hidatsa examples, such as the Lion Boy Ledger (Cowdrey 1997). The artist of the Lion Boy Ledger was a different artist, but he shared with this artist several characteristics, notably the muscular treatment of the shoulders and forearms.

 

The grizzly bear was of great importance to all tribes of the Great Plains, for obvious reasons (cf. Ewers 1982: 36). The black bear, by contrast, was respected, but its incorporation into mythology was, on the Plains, limited to the Mandans, Hidatsas, Arikaras, Pawnees, and Cheyennes (cf. Bowers 1950: 138-9, 169-170; Parks 1996: 328, 337; Chamberlain 1982: 23, 129-130; Weltfish 1965: 136; Grinnell 1923, vol I: 198, 239, 290, vol II: 30, 84).

 

Hidatsa and Mandan beliefs and ceremonies overlapped to a great extent; but as this is a Hidatsa robe, we shall concentrate specifically on Hidatsa use of bear power.

 

Black bear power was strongly connected to hunting eagles. “In the old days, the black bears liked to catch eagles. A black bear would go into his pit and when he saw an eagle in the air, he would take out his snare and motion with it as id to ensnare the bird. Although he could not reach the eagle, the latter soon began to fly down to the pit as if compelled to do so by some power…[The] bears had an eagle-hunting lodge…where they lived and caught eagles and ate them” (Wilson 1928: 156). The foundation myth for the Eagle Trapping Rite describes how the power of the rite was acquired from the black bears (ibid.: 224-6). On other words, the powers of the earth, represented by the cave-dwelling bears, overcame the powers of the air. The Hidatsas, of course, like all North American Indians, were capable of playing both sides of the fence, using sky powers to overcome earth powers. But here we are focusing on the use of earth powers.

 

If at first blush eagle-catching seems to be irrelevant to warfare, it is not. Like all forms of hunting, eagle catching was considered analogous to war. Many shields have rabbit designs or actual rabbit scalps on their surface. Rabbits were invariably used to bait eagle traps; by analogy, then a rabbit on a shield was designed to attract the “eagles” of the enemy to the shield’s owner, in order that he might kill them (Coleman 1992). At the same time, the bear was a powerful protector for one to whom he had granted a vision, just as sow bears were ferocious defenders of their cubs. And bears are notably difficult to kill. This aspect of a bear’s power was sometimes represented by the bear standing or squatting in an upright position, its arms outstretched: the position assumed by a bear when it feels threatened. Impressive examples of this are the “hugging tipis” found among the Sarsi and Blackfeet, the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Omahas, Poncas, Kiowas and Kiowa-Apaches (Brasser 1979; Ewers 1982: 40-41). One of these lodges was owned by the famous Southern Cheyenne chief Whirlwind, who also owned a shield with bear paws depicted on it (Kansas City Museum #40,616). This demonstrates that the holder of bear power may exhibit that power through different media. It must be said that bears appear on lodge covers and shields with much greater frequency than robes. Ewers sites two note worth exceptions (op. cit.: 41-2), both depicting war scenes in which one of the individuals appears to have granted bear power. What is more unusual about this robe, is that it depicts the bear so prominently, in a manner directly analogous to the way it was depicted on shields and tipis.

 

The artist who created these three fascinating objects was evidently the recipient of several power visions from his spirit benefactor. In the case of the robe, the bear image is positioned directly over the wearer’s heart, in the splayed protective position of an angered bear. Its legs likewise extend in four directions, indicating protection of the owner on all sides. As a vivid demonstration of this power, the bear stands unmoved and defiant in a red hail, signifying that the Above Powers will not avail against him. This would include, of course, a “hail of bullets.”

 

The hail is placed with great precision in a diagonal grid—diapered, in the old language of heraldry. This contributes to the activation of the entire field, so that the bear, even when the robe’s wearer is motionless, seems to inhabit a pulsing aura of power.  This aspect would be much enhanced when the wearer was in motion, the robe rippling and the fringe and tail swinging with every step. This splendid robe would have immediately identified its owner to friend or foe as one of the Chosen Ones of the earth powers, the favored child of the awesome and powerful bear.

 

Winfield Coleman
San Francisco