“The Indian” “Shooting” “Buffalo” that man/ two run after “Buffalo” and want kill” (Artist’s inscription, verso)

“The subject of this drawing is the hunt. Two Hidatsa hunters on horseback are shown charging into a herd of buffalo, of which two have been wounded. The horses' tails are not bound up as they would be for battle (see Nº31). Although the Hidatsa, Arikara, and Mandan were known primarily as farming tribes (they lived in settled, fortified villages and raised corn, beans, and squash), they all supplemented their diet with game. As this drawing shows, the farming tribes hunted buffalo not only for food but also for the necessary materials for clothing, shelter, and weapons –much like the nomadic groups, such as the Sioux. Compared with the two Sioux drawings of the same subject (see Nº26 and Nº34), the manner of hunting buffalo from group to group varied very little.” (p.45)

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.