Plains Indian Ledger Art: Arrow's Elk Society Ledger - PLATE 34
LEDGER

Arrow's Elk Society Ledger

PLATE
No. 14 of 85
PLATE 34
ARTIST
Arrow
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Document Info

Page No. 34
Media:
Dimensions: 8.5 * 14 inches inches

Tribe

Cheyenne, Cheyenne - Southern

Custodian

Various Private Owners

Provenance

Collected in 1882 at Darlington, Indian Territory (Oklahoma) by Sallie C. Maffet.
Descendants of Maffet sold the manuscript at Sotheby's auction in N ...More

Essays & Videos

Arrow
by Mike Cowdrey


Keywords

No keywords for this plate.

Ethnographic Notes


Although now showing its tail temporarily docked, and with some red added to the coloration of its legs, the black spot on the rump of this horse identifies it as the same one of the previous drawing, nicely recovered from its fall. Arrow, too, has recovered, and here turns his rather distant attention to a particular young lady. There is good reason for his circumspection. Cheyenne women were renowned for their chastity, a reputation maintained by constant vigilance on the part of a young girl's mother and aunts. Explaining Cheyenne courting customs of the 19th century, John Stands In Timber recalled:

"...most young men...did not dare go to the girl if she was with her mother...The mothers were with their daughters all the time, wherever they went, day or night. You had to be careful. You did not want the mother to know who was trying to visit the girl, so you went over and hid near the tepee...When she came out by herself you would catch her and wrap her in your blanket and have a long conversation. Sometimes the old woman would come out and say, 'That's enough ! Go on home !' and you didn't dare stay" (Stands In Timber & Liberty, 1967: 292).

Arrow depicts the maternal chaperone anonymously vanishing off the left edge of the page---wishful thinking, perhaps. He has discretely preceded the two women when they went away from camp, probably to dig prairie turnips, a succulent root delicacy which was gathered in May and early-June (Grinnell, 1923, II: 178). The mother's bent-over posture, and hiked-up skirt, indicate that she may be using a digging stick, although it is out of view. Compare the photograph in Grinnell, 1923, I: opp. 96. Two women usually worked together to gather the roots: one would dig them up, and the other would braid the stems together so that they might be carried, and later dried in long strings, rather like Italian garlic. The mother has just begun to dig, and her daughter is reclining on the ground, waiting to perform her part in the process.

Directly below the figure of the mother is a tiny map, showing the dotted path of the two women toward and around a hill, in their search for the roots. This suggests some complicity on the part of the girl, for that hill is precisely where Arrow is located; and the clustered tracks of his horse near the edge of an escarpment indicate he has been there for a long time, waiting and watching for their approach. That is, he had prior knowledge they would be working nearby, so the girl must have found a way to let him know. Like young women the world over, Cheyenne girls often chafed under close parental supervision, and plotted brief opportunities to be alone with their boyfriends.

Lying concealed behind a boulder, Arrow gazes wistfully down upon his sweetheart. He is wrapped in a dark-blue (black) courting blanket formed of two pieces of white-selvedge trade cloth sewn together. This produced a double-width wrap, with a broad, white stripe down the center---compare Plate 150. Here, the center stripe runs along Arrow's back. For obvious reasons, such double wraps were also called "skunk blankets". The top and bottom edges of the blanket have been bound with yellow cloth or ribbon. This frames Arrow's upper face, with his not-quite-anonymous nose peeking out.

In addition to a long, red breechcloth, Arrow wears beaded moccasins, and a new pair of dark-blue trade cloth leggings, with beaded strips identical to those on the red leggings of the previous drawing. This pattern of dark, right-triangles must have been a favorite of his mother, or one of his sisters, who would make all of his clothing.

Down the hill, at the length of his lariat and safely out of sight of the women, Arrow's bored horse stamps the ground. The many clustered tracks indicate that it has already been a long day.

The two women wear polka dot, calico dresses. The mother's subdued wrap is a blue blanket with a black stripe. The daughter sports a more colorful, expensive, and attractive plaid shawl. The mother's plain, work moccasins are worn with leggings of dark-blue trade cloth. The daughter wears attractive leather boot-moccasins with beaded cuffs, and yellow-ochre rubbed on the leather. These are not "work boots". The mother will do the digging; her daughter the less dirty and strenuous work of braiding. Meanwhile, any young men who happen to be watching from the hill will be able to admire the well-dressed young girl as she poses and preens during her work. The mother knows this game of old, perhaps better than the conniving youngsters.

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