“These men are play a/ game they have Bufflo/ head and they have deer/ head and that woman/ is maidservant/ Mr Edward T. Bishop/ [the following in another hand] Nov. 1 The 1879/ These man are play a game they/ Have bufflo. head/ and they have deer/ head and that woman is/ Maid, D. W=/ W. E.Dennis. P,B, Hardin/ E,P,H, Ashley/ Brut D” (Artist’s inscription, verso)

“This drawing depicts the performance of the various Sioux dream cults. These performances were held on specific days, and the whole camp was witness to the testing of powers between the different groups. The procession is led by a holy woman bearing a sacred pipe. Following are two elk-dreamers with medicine hoops with mirrors attached. In addition they carry sticks with greenery and banners (see Nº38). Following the elk-dreamers is a heyoka, also with a mirror, who will test the elk-dreamers' powers. The difference in the elk-dreamers' masks is a matter of the individual's dream vision and taste. In the background, surrounded by four poles with leafy tops and banners attached (offerings to the Great Spirit), is the tipi where the elk-dreamers assemble and don their costumes.” (p.25)

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.