| Unknown Unknown — Arapaho/Kansas Indian Ledger Drawing |
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Arapaho/Kansas Indian Ledger Drawing |
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Medium: Lead, ink and colored pencil on lined paper Dimensions: Paper size: 6” x 14 5/8”; Frame size: 15 1/8” x 24” Inscribed l.l.: Kaw Indians; Inscribed l.r.: Arapaho The action of this drawing depicts a mounted Arapaho warrior charging a group of Kaw (Kansas) Indians firing rifles and bows. The mounted hero’s “name glyph” appears above his head, possibly representing a horse or a mounted rider. He is shown as being impervious to the aggressors attack as their arrows and bullets fly past him, his magical war shield his source of protection. The warrior’s face is painted and the tail of his horse is tied, signifying he is prepared for warfare. The lance he carries has similar meaning. A real sense of valor is displayed in this image, as the lone warrior charges against a large group of his enemy. Ledger drawings are vivid compositions created by the Plains Indians. Their name derives from the lined ledger books given to the natives by early settlers and military personnel. These original drawings, made by the Indians in the late nineteenth century, are valuable pictographic records of the stories, myths, cultural and historic events that effected the lives of Native Americans. The drawings are rooted in their own culture and are direct expressions of a centuries-old tradition of art. Pictographic imagery was most commonly used in petroglyphs or rock art, as well as on human adornments, such as buffalo robes. It was natural for colonized Indians of the nineteenth century to incorporate their rich artistic heritage into the images they drew in ledger books. The comparative ease of drawing with pencil and paper gave these artists freedom to create sacred pictographs without compromising the purity of their style. |
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