PLATE 18, right side
click on picture for life size copy of entire
plate
"On the right hand side of the page stands a curly-haired horse,
who has feathers attached to its mane. The riderless horse awaits the return
of his two-legged owner, who has been transformed into the powerful Elk Dreamer
or sacred elk."
plate 36, left side
click on picture for life size copy of entire
plate
Black Hawk did a sequence of drawings
showing pairs of warriors - each plate shows one Crow warrior in regalia,
and one Lakota warrior in regalia. His reason for doing so is not understood
since anything apart from battles between them are quite uncommon in Lakota
art due to "...the fact that the Crow and the Lakota were traditional
enemies... [Much more common is the recording of ongoing warfare with the
Crow.] The meaning of these images is hard to decipher. Could they have been
part of his dream or vision? In his vision, did a finely dressed Crow enemy
bring Black Hawk a masked horse for his horse ceremony? Did this relate in
some fashion to his vision of Thunder Beings (in whose honor horse dances
are held)?113 Or do these drawings chronicle an event or ceremony
that Black Hawk witnessed ...during one of the infrequent pacts of peace
between the Crow and the Lakota, or is the artist fascinated with the customs
of the enemy for other reasons? Although we don't know the precise origin
of Black Hawk's specialized knowledge of these foreign customs, or exactly
what is being conveyed in this remarkable sequence of drawings, he certainly
provides a vivid picture of nineteenth-century Crow Ceremonialism.
"In two of these drawings, the mounted Crow are paired
with Lakota pipe-bearers (plates 37, 38) who resemble headmen. Of these
Lakota-Crow pairs, plate 37 is particularly intriguing, for the mounted Crow
in ceremonial dress seems to lead an unusual horse to the Lakota pipe bearer.
The horse wears a buffalo mask, suggesting a relationship to Thunder
Beings.
PLATE 37, right side
click on picture for life size copy of entire
plate
©2000
CrowCountryCurlyHorses
*Dos Estrellas, a bay roan Curly Horse
mare.
Her bloodlines trace to WY and NV wild curlies, and MFT.
"The coats of both this horse, and the one in plate
36, left, are different from the smooth-coated horses Black Hawk usually
draws. Repeating hatch marks in black or red ink suggest that a wiry- or
curly-haired horse is being represented. Several winter counts record that
at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Sioux either captured
curly-haired horses from their Crow enemies or caught wild ones on the
prairie.111 A warrior named Young Eagle recalled, "these horses
were raised by the Indians as far back as anyone can remember. Most of them
were dark in color with hair 'singed.' Hence their name, which is
Sung-gu-gu-la, literally 'horses with burnt hair.' "
"Is Black Hawk recording an instance of a
Sung-gu-gu-la being presented to a Lakota by a Crow? In traditional
Lakota life, pictures like this would be shown when men recounted the events
of the past. Each picture, with its richly evocative details, would give
weight and credence to men's recollections."
PLATE 43, cropped
click on picture for life size copy of entire
plate
"Black Hawk depicts many fine Lakota horses. He has
taken exceptional care in drawing the portrait of one particular horse (plates
43, 47). This may be a horse with long, curly hair; or the artist may be
trying to depict the intermixed dark and light hairs of a roan (the chestnut
red coat with white hairs in it).
PLATE 47, cropped
click on picture for life size copy of entire
plate
This horse may have been considered particularly handsome, with four white
stockings evenly matched, a rare occurence.124 The horse has a
white blaze on her face; she also appears in a simple portrait study, where
her tail hangs loose, and her mane is decorated with feathers to honor her
prowess in war (plate 18)."
©1998
Sorrel
*CCC Seekers Foxtail, a *Bad Warrior bloodline
Curly Horse mare.
The *Bad Warrior bloodline traces directly back to Sitting Bull's
horses.
NOTES:
"111. See Howard, The British Museum Winter Count, p. 22;
for a discussion of the varied recountings of this event within different
winter counts see pp. 21-22. Depending on the winter count, the year for
this event ranges from 1801-4."
"113. The Crow had a Horse Dance that Lowie characterized as a
"minor ceremony." Unlike the complex pageantry of the Lakota Horse Dance,
which commemorated a vision of Thunder Beings, the Crow Horse Dance seemed
to be principally a rite for restoring exhausted horses to full vigor, or
for providing more horses to the tribe. See Lowie, Minor Ceremonies of
the Crow Indians, pp. 329-34."
"124. Personal communication from equestrienne India Frank, December
1999. Horse breeder India Frank suggests that the white stockings indicate
a genetic basis for the identification of this as a roan horse, which is
characterized by a coat of intermixed red and white hair. In two other drawings
Black Hawk shows similar horses. In plate 36 (left), a Crow warrior seems
to be riding the same horse. Did he capture it in a horse-stealing raid?
In plate 37, a Crow warrior leads a roan horse horse wearing a buffalo mask.
Here, its coat is indicated by strokes of pink ink."
Lakota Winter Counts
Online Exhibit, this website displays & explains more about how the
Lakota marked the passage of time by drawing pictures of memorable events
on calendars known as winter counts.
©2002
Sorrel
*CCC Warriors Perfectn, another *Bad Warrior
bloodline Curly Horse mare.
The *Bad Warrior bloodline traces directly back to Sitting Bull's
horses.
My private musings: [India Frank would
actually be referring to the sabino pinto gene, not the true roan gene. "Roan"
sabino horses are also characterized by sharp jagged edged socks, white lower
lips & chin, and frequently spots on belly or lower rib area. The sabino
pinto gene occurs much more frequently in red based horses, than it does
in black (& bay) based horses] For more information see also
Sabino Horse
Registry.
Perhaps the Winter Counts are not just marking a year that Curlies
were stolen from the Crow by the Sioux, or caught on the plains... Perhaps
Black Hawk's unexplained drawings of pairs of Lakota and Crow warriors, with
the the Crow warrior apparently gifting the Lakota warrior with a Curly Horse,
was actually the same memorable & significant event that the Winter Counts
depict. Maybe Black Hawk did drawings of this remarkable event, to commemorate
it in detail?
Curly
Horses in the Battle of the Little Bighorn
This scan is taken from the Time Life book - it is the picture that is cited
in Myth & Mystery; and it is actually drawn by Red Horse, not
Red Cloud as stated in Myth & Mystery. It is a drawing of a Lakota warrior
riding off from the Little Big Horn battle with the Army's captured horses.
The Curly is ridden by the Sioux. The horse in front of him is a captured
Army horse. You can see the Sioux Curly has the Indian style bridle made
of rawhide.
Again! Strangely, we see the exact same markings yet again... I wonder what
the significance of that is??
One Army officer, General George Cook, stated that the Sioux were the greatest
light Cavalry the world has ever known.
|
Date: Saturday, July 23, 2005 8:17 AM
Email To: SiouxCurlies@yahoogroups.com
From: Rod Vaughn, of Diamond Willow,
Hello,
This is an email that my friend Sheldon forwarded to me a few days ago. Sheldon
is a member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe (that reservation is just across
the Missouri River from where we live on the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation).
Sheldon is also a direct descendant of Meriwether (sp?) Lewis of the Lewis
& Clark Expedition. Lewis fathered a son from a Lower Brule Sioux woman
here on his way upriver in 1804. (Just a little L&C history for those
of you interested.)
He is very interested, as are many here, about the Curly horses. It is exciting
to see the interest among those on the reservations here growing. We are
very saddened by the loss of the foal last weekend but remain encouraged
by the support we get from all of you and by the interest we are getting
from those here that knew these Curlies for centuries. There are better days
ahead.
Rod
---------------------
Rod,
Note the two references that talk about curly haired horses. I thought it
was intresting. These are from winter counts.
Sheldon
Note: forwarded message attached:
Wintercount Creator: Battiste Good
Year: 931 - 1000
English Year:
Lakota Year:
Notes: From the time the man represented in [a previous image] was seventy
years of age, i.e., from the year 931, time is counted by cycles of seventy
years until 1700.This figure illustrates the manner of killing buffalo before
and after the appearance of The-Woman.When the Dakotas had found the buffalo,
they moved to the herd and corralled it by spreading their camps around it.The
Man-Who-Dreamed-of-a-Wolf, seen at the upper part of the circle, with bow
and arrow in hand, then shot the chief bull of the herd with his medicine
or sacred arrow; at this, the women all cried out with joy, "He has killed
the chief bull!" On hearing them shout the man with bow and arrow on the
opposite side, the Thunder-Bird (wakinyan, accurately translated "the flying
one") shot a buffalo cow, and the women again shouted with joy.Then all the
men began to shout, and they killed as many as they wished.The buffalo heads
and the blood-stained tracks show what large numbers were killed. They cut
off the head of the chief bull, and laid the pipe beside it until their work
was done. They prayed to The-Woman to bless and help them as they were following
her teachings.Having no iron or knives, they used sharp stones, and mussel
shells, to skin and cut up the buffalo.They rubbed blood in the hides to
soften and tan them.They had no horses, and had to pack everything on their
own backs.The cyclic characters that embrace the period from 1001 to 1140
illustrate nothing of interest not before presented. Slight distinction appears
in the circles so that they can be identified, but without enough significance
to merit reproduction (Mallery 1893:291-92).
Wintercount Creator: Battiste Good
Year: 1141 - 1210
English Year:
Lakota Year:
Notes: Among a herd of buffalo, surrounded at one time during this period,
were some horses.The people all cried out, "there are big dogs with them,"
having never seen horses before, hence the name for horse, sunka (dog) tanka
(big), or sunka (dog) wakan (wonderful or mysterious). After killing all
the buffalo they said "let us try and catch the big dogs;" so they cut a
thong out of a hide with a sharp stone and with it caught eight, breaking
the leg of one of them. All these years they used sharpened deer horn for
awls, bone for needles, and made their lodges without the help of iron tools.
{All other Dakota traditions yet reported in regard to the first capture
of horses, place this important event at a much later period and long after
horses were brought to America by the Spaniards. See this count for the year
1802-03, and also Lone Dog's Winter Count for the same year.} (Mallery
1893:292)
Wintercount Creator: Battiste Good
Year: 1631 - 1700
English Year:
Lakota Year:
Notes: This represents the first killing of buffalo on horseback. It was
done in the year 1700, inside the circle of lodges pitched around the herd,
by a man who was tied on a horse with thongs and who received the name of
Hunts-inside-the-lodges.They had but one horse then, and they kept him a
long time. Again the bundle of count-sticks is in the recorder's hands. This
is the end of the obviously mythic part of the record, in which Battiste
has made some historic errors. From this time forth each year is distinguished
by a name, the explanation of which is in the realm of fact. It must be again
noted that when colors are referred to in the description of the text figures,
the language (translated) used by Battiste is retained for the purpose of
showing the coloration of the original and his interpretation of the colors,
which are to be imagined, as they can not be reproduced by the process used
(Mallery 1893:293).
Wintercount Creator: Battiste Good
Year: 1762 - 1763
English Year: People were burnt winter.
Lakota Year:
Notes: They were living somewhere east of their present country when a prairie
fire destroyed their entire village. Many of their children and a man and
his wife, who were on foot some distance away from the village, were burned
to death, as also were many of their horses. All the people that could get
to a long lake, which was near by, saved themselves by jumping into it. Many
of these were badly burned about the thighs and legs, and this circumstance
gave rise to the name Sican-zhu, burnt thigh (or simply burnt as translated
Brule by the French), by which they have since been known, and also to the
gesture sign, as follows: "Rub the upper and outer part of the right thigh
in a small circle with the open right hand, fingers pointing downward" (Mallery
1893:304-305). This is the only winter count to give such an explanation
for how the Sicangu/Brule acquired their tribal name.
Wintercount Creator: Battiste Good
Year: 1803 - 1804
English Year: Brought home Pawnee horses with their hair rough and curly
winter.
Lakota Year:
Notes: The curly hair is indicated by the curved marks. Lone Dog's Winter
Count for the same year records the same incident, but states that the curly
horses were stolen from the Crows (Mallery 1893:314).
Many counts mark this year as when they acquired curly haired horses; see
Rosebud, Flame, Lone Dog, Major Bush, and Swan, as well as Long Soldier (1801-02)
and No Ears (1804-05). White Cow Killer calls this year "Plenty of woolly
horses winter" (Corbusier 1886:134).
Wintercount
Creator: Lone Dog
Year: 1803 - 1804
English Year: They stole some "curly horses" from the Crows.
Lakota Year:
Notes: Some of these horses are still on the plains, the hair growing in
closely curling tufts.The device is a horse with black marks for the tufts.
The Crows are known to have been early in the possession of horses (Mallery
1893:273).
White Cow Killer calls it "Plenty-of-woolly-horses winter" (Corbusier 1886:134).
Many counts mark this as the year when they acquired curly haired horses;
see Rosebud, Good, Flame, Major Bush, and Swan. See also Long Soldier (1801-02)
and No Ears (1804-05).
Wintercount Creator: American Horse
Year: 1805 - 1806
English Year: The Dakotas had a council with the whites on the Missouri River,
below the Cheyenne Agency.
Lakota Year:
Notes: They had many flags, which the Good-White-Man gave them with their
guns, and they erected them on poles to show their friendly feelings. The
curved line is to represent the council lodge, which they made by opening
several tipis and uniting them at their sides to form a semicircle. The marks
are for the people. American Horse's father was born this year (Corbusier
1886:134).
As noted by Corbusier, this may have been a meeting with the Lewis and Clark
Expedition. White Cow Killer notes the year 1790-91 as
"All-the-Indians-see-the-flag winter," while Cloud Shield calls 1807-08 the
year when "many people camped together and had many flags flying" (Corbusier
1886:132-33, 135).
See
Diamond Willow
Ministries, Crow Creek Sioux Reservation, Fort Thompson, SD;
Their webpage about their Native American Curly Horse preservation
program.
Crow Country Curly
Horses, Sharpshooter Ridge, Custer
Battlefield
The Crow Country Curly Horse main breeding herd roams
a leased pasture
on the famous
Little Bighorn
Battlefield in 2004.
Crow Country
Curly Horses, according to last wishes of Ernest Hammrich, is steadily returning
Warrior-bred Curly Horses back to the Crow people in Montana.
|
©1998
Sorrel
