Painted elk hide Courtesy of School for Advanced Research, Catalog Number SAR.1978-1-87/Photograph by Addison DotyPainted Elk Hide
Attributed to Cotsiogo (Cadzi Cody), Eastern Shoshone, Wind River Reservation, Wyoming. c. 1890–1900 C.E. Painted elk hide.
Curator Note
"A nostalgic vision of the past created for tourists. Painted on a reservation, it depicts the Sun Dance (which was illegal at the time) and buffalo hunts—a way of life that had already vanished."
Form
- Materials: Natural pigments (chalk, clay, charcoal) painted on tanned elk hide.
- Technique: Free-hand painting and stenciling.
- Composition: Radial / Centrifugal (figures radiate around a center).
- Style: Flat figures, profile view, lack of background/perspective.
- Movement: Figures are shown in active poses (dancing, hunting).
Function
- Commercial Art: Created specifically to sell to white tourists visiting the reservation.
- Cultural Preservation: Recorded traditional ways of life that were vanishing.
- Economic Survival: Provided income for the artist in a poverty-stricken time.
- Nostalgia: Satisfied the tourist desire for the "Wild West" imagery.
- Decoration: Intended to be hung on a wall or worn as a robe.
Content
- Center: The Sun Dance (sacred ceremony) featuring a buffalo head on a pole.
- Surrounding: The Wolf Dance (Grass Dance) which was allowed by the US government.
- Periphery: Buffalo Hunt scenes (men on horses with bows/rifles).
- Warriors returning to camp with women preparing the hide.
- Combining incompatible events (Sun Dance + Hunt) for visual appeal.
Context
- Attributed to Cotsiogo (Cadzi Cody), Eastern Shoshone, c. 1890–1900 (Wind River Reservation).
- Context of Loss: The buffalo were nearly extinct, and the tribe was confined.
- The Sun Dance was outlawed by the US government at this time (acts as subversion).
- Evolved from the "Winter Count" tradition (recording history on hides).
- Shows the transition from traditional art to art-for-market.