Full Description
During much of the nineteenth century, paintings functioned as the Plains Indians' closest equivalent to written records. The majority of their paintings documented warfare, focusing on specific war deeds. These pictorial narratives continue to expand historical knowledge of a people and place in transition. Arni Brownstone studies several important war paintings and artifact collections of the Tsuu T'ina (Sarcee) that provide insight into the changing relations between the Tsuu T'ina, other plains tribes, and non-Native communities during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. All known Tsuu T'ina paintings are considered in the study, as are several important collections of Tsuu T'ina artifacts. Brownstone's work furthers our understanding of Tsuu T'ina pictographic war paintings in relation to the social, historical, and artistic forces that influenced them and provides a broader understanding of pictographic painting, one of the richest and most important Native American artistic and literary genres.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Historical Background
Plains Indian Warfare
War Exploit Painting
History of the Five Tsuu T'ina Paintings
Discussion of the Five Paintings
Pictographic Translations
Later Tsuu T'ina Paintings
Tsuu T'ina Material Culture Collections
Notes
References
Index
