“The other Indians are British Soldiers I was to their home/ they are like white people but they are dressed like Indians/ and these other two Soldier from American, the British/ Soldiers know how to fight and make guns & things/ like White people make,/ Ahuka/ Hampton Virginia Nov 16th 1879” (Annotated by Ahuka, verso)

“This drawing was a joint effort; Jonathan Heustice did the drawing, and Ahuka wrote the text. It is not unusual, considering that Heustice, a Pawnee, had just arrived at Hampton from Indian territory without any knowledge of English. Ahuka, who was Arikara, spoke a language that differed only dialectically from Pawnee. He would naturally have served as Heustice’s interpreter.

Depicted at the left are two soldiers and at the right two Indians (possibly scouts). The telltale mark of differentiation is the footgear: the soldiers wear boots, the Indians moccasins. The Indians are elaborately dressed in a combination of traditional and white man’s clothing. Traditional items include the moccasins, beaded legging strips, and garters worn at the knee. Articles received from whites include the military hats and coats, known as “chiefs’ coats,” which were highly regarded prestige items.” (p.33)

William S. Wierzbowski and Helen M. Mangelsdorf in Images of a Vanished Life: Plains Indian Drawing from the Collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1985.