“These two man/ Play gem one man/ has Stick he is just/ like deer his head put/ on something and he/ has two horn/ Chas. Thos. Willis” (Artist’s inscription, verso)

“This drawing depicts the testing of power between a heyoka (on the right) and an elk-dreamer. A heyoka was a man who dreamed of thunder and, because of his dream, had to act in an unnatural manner such as wearing heavy buffalo robes during the hottest part of the summer. Elk-dreamers were men who dreamed of elk. Various dream cults, including elk, bear, wolf, deer (see Nº29), and buffalo, usually joined in one celebration where each group danced and sang their particular songs and tested their powers against one another. In this drawing the heyoka holds a mirror from which he “shoots” magic at a hoop with a mirror suspended in the middle, which the elk-dreamer holds. The “shooting” of magic is indicated by the dotted line from mirror to mirror. The elk-dreamer wears a triangular mask made of hide with branches attached to resemble elk antlers and carries a long stick with greenery at the top. Drawing Nº7 shows the larger context of this ceremony.” (p.48)

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.