Plains hide painting

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Sioux parfleche, ca. 1900, Gilcrease Museum

Plains hide painting is a traditional North American

Plains Indian artistic practice of painting on either tanned or raw animal hides. Tipis, tipi liners, shields, parfleches, robes, clothing, drums, and winter counts
could all be painted.

Genres

Art historian Joyce Szabo writes that Plains artists were concerned "with composition, balance, symmetry, and variety."[1] Designs can be similar to those found in earlier rock art and later quillwork and beadwork.

Geometric painting

Kiowa parfleche, ca. 1890, Oklahoma History Center

Plains women traditionally paint abstract, geometric designs.

Cross-hatching was a last resort used only when paint was scarce. Negative space was important and designs were discussed by women in terms of their negative space. Dots are used to break up large areas.[2]

Buffalo robes and parfleches were frequently painted with geometrical patterns. Parfleches are rawhide envelopes for carrying and storing goods, including food. Their painted designs are thought to be stylized maps, featuring highly abstract geographic features such as rivers or mountains.[4]

The "Feathered Sun" is a reoccurring motif of stylized feathers in several concentric circles. It visually connects a feather warbonnet to the sun.[5]

Representational painting

Buffalo hide painting of Pawnees battling the Villasur expedition

Traditionally, men painted representational art.

heraldic accounts or calendars.[6]

Heraldic painting

Siksika tipis in Montana
, photo by Walter McClintock

Men recorded their battle and hunting exploits on hide tipi liners, robes, and even shirts.

Blackfoot buffalo hide features the protagonist no fewer than eight times.[12]

Painted hides also commemorate historical events, such as treaty signings.

After 1850, hide painting grew in complexity with finer lines and additional details added.

Omaha tipi featured steamboats.[13]

Calendars

Kiowa winter count by Anko, ca. 1895
Main article: Winter count

Traditional Plains calendars are called winter counts because among most Plains tribes they feature a single pictogram that defined the entire year. Prior to using the Gregorian calendar, Lakota people counted years from first snow to first snow. Kiowas were unique in choosing two images per year– one for the winter and one representing the summer Sun Dance.[14]

Before the late 19th century when buffalo became scarce, winter counts were painted in buffalo hides. The annual pictograms could be arranged in a linear, spiral, or serpentine pattern.[15]

Visionary painting

Visions and dreams could inspire designs.

Kiowa-Apache about 50 possible shield designs existed.[17]

Blackfeet, sale.[17]

Followers of the

magpies, turtles, and cedar trees.[16]

Process and materials

Buffalo hides, as well as deer, elk, and other animal hides, are painted. Clothing and robes are often brain-tanned to be soft and supple. Parfleches, shields, and moccasin soles are rawhide for toughness.

In the past, Plains artists used a bone or wood

cottonwood buds provided brown pigment.[19] Lakota artists used to burn yellow clay to produce ceremonial red paint. Lakotas associated blue pigments with women.[20]

In earlier times, all members of a tribe might paint but highly skilled individuals might be commissioned by others to create artwork.[17] Before the 20th century, when a Kiowa man needed to repaint his lodge, he would invite 20-30 friends to paint the entire tipi in a single day. He would then treat them all to a feast.[6]

Related art forms

Many tribes throughout North America, besides those on the Plains, also painted hides, following different aesthetic traditions. Subarctic tribes are known for their painted caribou hides. On the Plains, when buffalo herds were being slaughtered in the late 19th century, other painting surfaces became available, such as muslin, paper, and canvas, giving birth to Ledger art.[21] Contemporary Plains beadwork and jewelry used designs from hide painting.[22]

Gallery

Notable Plains hide painters

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Szabo, 4
  2. ^ a b c d Szabo, 5
  3. ^ a b "More About Buffalo Hide Painting." National Museum of American History. (retrieved 4 Feb 2010)
  4. ^ Goes in Center, John. "Native American and First Nations' GIS." Native Geography. 2000 (retrieved 4 Feb 2010)
  5. ^ Dubin, 236-7
  6. ^ a b c Szabo, 7
  7. ^ Szabo, 5, 7
  8. ^ Szabo, 10
  9. ^ Szabo, 31
  10. ^ Szabo, 32
  11. ^ Penney, 114
  12. ^ "Buffalo Robe." British Museum. (retrieved 4 Feb 2010)
  13. ^ a b Szabo, 12
  14. ^ Szabo, 7-8
  15. ^ Szabo, 8
  16. ^ a b Penney, 112
  17. ^ a b c Szabo, 6
  18. ^ Penney, 124
  19. ^ Szabo, 13
  20. ^ Dubin, 246
  21. ^ Szabo, 16
  22. ^ Dubin, 263

References

  • Dubin, Lois Sherr. North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment: From Prehistory to the Present. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1999.
    ISBN 0-8109-3689-5
    .
  • Penney, David W. North American Indian Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 2004.
    ISBN 0-500-20377-6
    .
  • Szabo, Joyce M. Howling Wolf and the History of Ledger Art. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1984.
    ISBN 0-8263-1467-8
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Native American hide painting.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plains_hide_painting&oldid=1189419338"