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Exploit robe

Apsáalooke warrior’s exploit robe
ca. 1850
Fort Benton, Montana
Buffalo hide, pigment, red wool trade cloth, beads, porcupine quill, horsehair
224 x 193 cm
Collected by William H. Schieffelin
Presented by William de la Montagne Cary
1/2558

This magnificent buffalo robe was acquired from a Blackfoot1 at Fort Benton in 1861 by William H. Schieffelin, the son of a prominent New York family.2 Located on the Missouri River at the furthest point navigable by steamboats, Fort Benton was at that time a major trading post of the American Fur Company.3 The river in this area was a natural, although contested, boundary between the Blackfoot in the north and their enemies the Apsáalooke, or Crow Indians, to the south. The Blackfoot and Apsáalooke journeyed to Fort Benton to trade for beads, steel knives, and copper pots, but most of all for guns, powder, and lead. Both nations knew that whoever controlled the arms trade and had horses reliably available would control the hunting territories. The trade system that developed along the Missouri concentrated the competition between the Blackfoot and Apsáalooke and increased the level of violence when the two groups met.4

The images on this robe—with their elongated graceful forms, quillwork strip, and triangular patch representing a horse’s head—are typical Apsáalooke.5 How the robe came into the possession of a Blackfoot is now pure speculation. It could have been a war trophy. It could just as likely have been received in trade or as a gift during moments of peace between these two mighty foes.

Apsáalooke social and political structure was intimately tied to the military prowess of individuals. Leaders did not inherit their position, nor were they elected or appointed. Male status was based on a man’s martial accomplishments. Although other qualities were admired, without warrior credentials a man had no standing.6 The first step to becoming a person of eminence, a chief, was by achieving the four requisite war honors: to strike a live enemy in battle either with the hand or an object held in the hand, capture the picketed horse of an enemy, take an enemy’s weapons in battle, and lead a successful war party. Many other war honors, though not counted toward chiefly status, were also deemed important.7

Personal war records were communicated through public orations at major gatherings and visual representations on personal possessions. Biographic warrior art, termed chiwaálaatuua (narrative writing) in Apsáalooke, gave public notice of an individual’s accomplishments. Even with variations in imagery within and between tribes, biographic art was easily read by friend or enemy.8 Contemporary Apsáalooke people, apparently like their ancestors, generally read narrative writing from right to left. Complex images, such as this robe, would have been read from top to bottom and then right to left, as the vignettes would have been visible when the robe was worn. Within individual warfare scenes, the aggressor or victor was usually placed on the right, the enemy or vanquished on the left.

Six vignettes present the impressive military record of the robe’s original Apsáalooke owner. The first shows the victor—with face paint and Apsáalooke upright bangs and flowing long hair—running to seize the gun of a wounded enemy. In the second, the Apsáalooke warrior touches the live enemy with his lance; two stripes on the hind end of his horse indicate that he already had two war honors at the time. The third vignette shows the hero engaged in an intense firefight with two enemies; he is wounded by one and kills the other. The fourth has the Apsáalooke successfully counting coup on a fleeing enemy who has dispatched two arrows to slow his pursuer. The fifth is an elegant, though simple presentation of the hero taking a bow from an enemy. The sixth and last presents eleven trade guns secured from the enemy.

We often remark what stories objects from the past could tell if they only spoke. Well, this one does, and it says:

Uuwatbalaxxiim bulutchik—I took a gun.
Baláxxiikaashim bulutchik—I took a bow.
Daákse dúhpaa baalichik—I struck live enemies twice.
Biskoochíia biiúuk Hawátam baappeék—I was wounded by the enemy, I killed one.
Uuwatbalaxxiia axpáwatim bahkuulaawóok—I brought back eleven guns.

—Patrick J. Hill (Takes The Lead, Apsáalooke) and Timothy P. McCleary
Artist and tribal historian; professor, Little Big Horn College

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NOTES
  1. The term “Blackfoot” is used to describe the larger confederacy of three politically, culturally, and linguistically related groups, the Blackfoot, Bloods, and Piegans. Since the collector did not distinguish the affiliation of the seller, the term Blackfoot in its general sense is used in this document.
  2. Ewers, “Artists’ choice,” 45.
  3. Van West, A Traveler’s Companion to Montana History, 28.
  4. Hoxie and Rzeczkowski, Grapevine Creek Battle, 18–19.
  5. Brownstone, “Seven war-exploit paintings,” 69–72; Lowie, Crow Indian Art, 320.
  6. Lowie, “Notes on the social organization and customs of the Mandan,” 82–85.
  7. Lowie, “Social life of the Crow Indians,” 230–31; Old Horn and McCleary, Apsáalooke Social and Family Structure, 20.
  8. McCoy, “Every picture tells a story,” 173.
REFERENCES
  • Brownstone, Arni. “Seven war-exploit paintings: A search for their origins.” In Studies in American Indian Art: A Memorial Tribute to Norman Feder. Seattle: University of Washington, 2001.
  • Ewers, John C. “Artists’ choice.” American Indian Art Magazine 7, no. 2 (1982): 40–49.
  • Hoxie, Frederick E., and Frank Rzeczkowski. Grapevine Creek Battle. Denver CO: Lee Ballentine Production, 1998.
  • Lowie, Robert H. “Social life of the Crow Indians.” Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. 9, no. 2 (1912): 179–253.
  • Lowie, Robert H. “Notes of the social organization and customs of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Crow Indians.” Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. 21, no. 1 (1917): 1–99.
  • Lowie, Robert H. “Crow Indian art.” Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. 21, no. 4 (1917): 271–322.
  • McCoy, Ron. “Every picture tells a story: Plains Indian warrior art: The state of the art.” Reviews in Anthropology 29 (2000): 171–184.
  • Old Horn, Dale D., and Timothy P. McCleary. Apsáalooke Social and Family Structure. Crow Agency MT: Little Big Horn College, 1995.
  • Van West, Carroll. A Traveler’s Companion to Montana History. Helena: Montana Historical Society, 1986.
Detail of exploit robe

Apsáalooke warrior’s exploit robe (detail), ca. 1850. Fort Benton, Montana. Buffalo hide, pigment, red wool trade cloth, beads, porcupine quill, horsehair; 224 x 193 cm. Collected by William H. Schieffelin. Presented by William de la Montagne Cary. 1/2558

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Detail of exploit robe

Apsáalooke warrior’s exploit robe (detail), ca. 1850. Fort Benton, Montana. Buffalo hide, pigment, red wool trade cloth, beads, porcupine quill, horsehair; 224 x 193 cm. Collected by William H. Schieffelin. Presented by William de la Montagne Cary. 1/2558

+
Detail of exploit robe

Apsáalooke warrior’s exploit robe (detail), ca. 1850. Fort Benton, Montana. Buffalo hide, pigment, red wool trade cloth, beads, porcupine quill, horsehair; 224 x 193 cm. Collected by William H. Schieffelin. Presented by William de la Montagne Cary. 1/2558

+
Detail of exploit robe

Apsáalooke warrior’s exploit robe (detail), ca. 1850. Fort Benton, Montana. Buffalo hide, pigment, red wool trade cloth, beads, porcupine quill, horsehair; 224 x 193 cm. Collected by William H. Schieffelin. Presented by William de la Montagne Cary. 1/2558

+
Detail of exploit robe

Apsáalooke warrior’s exploit robe (detail), ca. 1850. Fort Benton, Montana. Buffalo hide, pigment, red wool trade cloth, beads, porcupine quill, horsehair; 224 x 193 cm. Collected by William H. Schieffelin. Presented by William de la Montagne Cary. 1/2558

+
Detail of exploit robe

Apsáalooke warrior’s exploit robe (detail), ca. 1850. Fort Benton, Montana. Buffalo hide, pigment, red wool trade cloth, beads, porcupine quill, horsehair; 224 x 193 cm. Collected by William H. Schieffelin. Presented by William de la Montagne Cary. 1/2558

+
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