Book of anonymous Kiowa drawings
MS 4656 Book of anonymous Kiowa drawings
Fort Marion, also known as Castillo de San Marco, is a stone fortress in St. Augustine, Florida. Between 1875 and 1878, seventy-two prisoners from the southern plains were incarcerated in the fort. Captain Richard Pratt supervised the prisoners during their incarceration at Fort Marion. The prisoners consisted of 27 Kiowas, 33 Cheyennes, 9 Comanches, 2 Arapahos, and a single Caddo. With the exception of one Cheyenne woman, all the prisoners were men. They had been accused of participating in the recent Red River War, earlier hostilities, or both. With the exception of the wife and daughter of one of the Comanche men, the prisoners families were not allowed to accompany them to Fort Marion.
The collection consists of a book of fourteen (14) drawings on eight (8) leaves of unruled paper in a commercial drawing book. The book was rebound by the Bureau of American Ethnology and the original covers are no longer visible. The drawings depict hunting, travelling, and camp scenes. The inside front cover is inscribed "Drawn by Buffalo Meat." The inside back cover is inscribed "Soaring Eegle [sic]." Buffalo Meat and Soaring Eagle were among the Cheyenne men imprisoned at Fort Marion. Although both men were artists, the drawings in this book are Kiowa, not Cheyenne.
Although the drawings were originally cataloged as Cheyenne by Buffalo Meat, neither Candace Greene nor Karen Daniels Petersen agree with this attribution. They note that the drawings can be identified as Kiowa based on elements of clothing, as well as shield and tipi designs. Furthermore, Greene compared the drawings with other works by Buffalo Meat and determined that they do not correspond with the artist's style. Both Greene and Petersen note that the drawings are the work of at least two artists. The inside of the front cover is inscribed, "Drawn by Buffalo Meat, Cheyenne." Petersen notes that the handwriting matches an inscription written inside the cover of MS 39-b, a drawing book that is known to have been collected at Fort Marion by George Fox, who inscribed the cover and captioned the drawings. (Candace Greene and Mike Jordan compared the inscriptions in MS 4656 and MS 39-b and agree that the handwriting is the same.) George Fox worked as an interpreter at Fort Marion until March 26, 1877. Consequently, the book dates between May 21, 1875, the date the prisoners arrived at Fort Marion, and March 26, 1877, the date George Fox departed.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
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NAA MS 4656
The drawings were created at Fort Marion sometime between May 21, 1875 and March 31, 1877. The book was obtained by Dr. Guy Fairfax Whiting, whose daughter Julia Whiting of Middleburg, Virginia, donated it to the Bureau of American Ethnology in February 1963. The donation was made through Dr. Richard Howland, Department of Civil History, Smithsonian Institution. Although Mrs. Whiting maintained that her father had collected the drawings on a buffalo hunting trip in the western United States, this story is not consistent with the book's Fort Marion origin.
MS 4656 Book of anonymous Kiowa drawings, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of man and woman with horse nearby
NAA MS 4656 001
NAA INV 08679400
Drawing depicts a military coat, peace medal, and a horse with a brand.
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of two men firing at herd of buffalo with revolvers
NAA MS 4656 002
NAA INV 08679500
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of man and woman riding horses and leading a pack animal that is carrying a parflech
NAA MS 4656 003 NAA INV 08679600
OPPS NEG 75-11140
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of four Indian men in military coats with epaulets and peace medals
NAA MS 4656 004
NAA INV 08679700
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of five women and a man carrying a tomahawk
NAA MS 4656 005
NAA INV 08679800
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of four men on horseback carring lances riding past four painted tipis
NAA MS 4656 006
NAA INV 08679900
Painted tipi is the Tail Picture Tipi.
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of tipi camp spread out along branching tree-lined streams, hills in the background
NAA MS 4656 007
NAA INV 08680000
Drawing depicts nine painted tipis.
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of three men and one woman hunting pronghorn antelope
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of three men and one woman hunting pronghorn antelope
NAA MS 4656 009 NAA INV 08680100
NAA INV 08680200
One drawing on two leaves. Drawing also contains branded horses and a fox or wolf.
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of three men with dogs hunting a buffalo bull
NAA MS 4656 010
NAA INV 08680300
Drawing depicts a man who has roped a buffalo bull. Two men, one armed with a bow and the other with a knife, attack the buffalo. The men are accompanied by two dogs, one of which bites the buffalo.
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of mounted man roping one of four horses
NAA MS 4656 011
NAA INV 08680400
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of women and men standing beneath shades
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of women and men standing beneath shades
NAA MS 4656 012
NAA INV 08680500
NAA INV 08680600
OPPS NEG 55090
One drawing on two leaves. Drawing depicts seven men wrapped in blankets, nine women, and a lance. Blankets hung over ropes suspended between two poles may represent a shade.
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of two women standing between two painted lodges, with a lance hanging on a pole located between the women
NAA MS 4656 013
NAA INV 08680700
Tipi design appears to be tipi with tail pictures.
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of a man horseback hunting elk with bow
NAA MS 4656 015
NAA INV 08680800
Anonymous Kiowa drawing of three men and three women standing beneath blankets hung from a rope suspended between two poles
NAA MS 4656 016
NAA INV 08680900
The drawing depicts two men with tomahawks.