This man was a shirt wearer and a medicine man. The scalp locks upon his shirt testify to his prowess as a warrior; the arrangement of his hair serves as a symbol of his sacred office as a tribal leader and medicine man. (Harbaugh, P., 1982).
Gall 'Pizi' (ca. 1838-1895). A wise, fearless, and successful war chief, Gall was Sitting Bull's adopted brother and one of the few Indians for which the army offered a bounty. While visiting Fort Berthold, D.T., Gall was discovered and bayoneted by soldiers. Assumed to be dead, his body was abandoned by those in his camp, and in the bitter cold of a Dakota winter night Gall staggered some 20 miles in search of aid. Stabbed through his neck, belly and abdomen, it was nearly a year before he recovered completely. Gall poses, painted as if for battle, in Barry's Ford Buffalo studio shortly before he was sent to the Standing Rock Agency. (Harbaugh, P., 1982)
Chief Joseph 'Hanmaton Talatkit' (ca. 1832-1904). By the close of 1876 the Sioux had been pacified enough that Manifest Destiny could focus her attention and Gatling guns on the Nez Perce of Oregon and Washington where gold had been discovered. Although he had always advocated coexistence with the white man, Chief Joseph was forced from his native home into a three-month, 1300 mile flight through what are today four states and twice across the Rocky Mountains, defeating the U.S. Army in seven major battles. He came within forty miles of sanctuary, the Canadian border, where he envisioned joining Sitting Bull and his exiled people, when his sick and starving band was overtaken by General Miles and one-armed General O.O. Howard. Joseph surrendered October 5, 1877. General Miles agreed to return the Nez Perce to the west; instead, they were sent to Indian Territory. Joseph was so successful a military leader and so influential a tribal leader that he was never allowed to return to his homeland and people. It was said that upon Joseph's exiled death in September of 1904, the agency doctor identified the cause of death as 'broken heart'. (Harbaugh, P., 1982)
The Grass Dance was a social, religious and healing dance which gained significance and popularity at a time when the buffalo vanished from the plains and the buffalo grass was being plowed under and replanted with wheat. Participants envisioned the return of the buffalo and the old ways of the Sioux. (Harbaugh, P., 1982)
Sitting Bull 'Tatanka Iyotanka' (1834-1890). Having been civilized by two years of subjugation and stripped of his tribal authority by the white man, Sitting Bull remained the sentinel to which the traditional Sioux clang, resulting in his death as the Ghost Dance passed. (Harbaugh, P., 1982)
Sitting Bull made only one tour with the Wild West Show, declining other invitations feeling his presence was needed by his followers at the Standing Rock Agency. This photograph was known to have been taken by David Notman, son of the premier Canadian photographer William Notman, during the summer of 1885. Barry likely obtained this copy of the negative from Notman himself. (Harbaugh, P., 1982)
Dimensions
15 X 10.5 cm
Size Overall
51 X 41 cm
Medium
Black and white photograph
Condition
Severe bowing back of both vertical edges away from mat.