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Painted Hide
Painted Hide
Culture

Painted Hide

Date1900-1925
DimensionsOverall: 52 × 88 × 2 in. (132.1 × 223.5 × 5.1 cm)
Object numberT0364
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextChief Washakie (1798-1900) was a celebrated warrior, Shoshone leader, and painter of hides. This hide was painted in his memory by his nephews, Isaac, Theodore, and Woodrow Washakie. An American flag waves over a gathering that includes warriors, singers and other members of a Shoshone community. An American bald eagle also flies overhead. When traditional warrior dances, such as the Sun Dance, were banned by the U. S. government in 1883, many Native Americans utilized the American flag to placate federal authorities as to their allegiance. In this image the American flag and flagpole share similarities in function, colors, and designs with the traditional Sun Dance pole, a sacred tree.
Exhibition HistoryMuseum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, MA, December 6, 1994 - May 2, 1995.

The Rockwell Museum, Corning, NY, May 29, 1997 - January 8, 1998.
ProvenanceMorning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyLavitt, Wendy. Animals in American Folk Art. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990, p.226. Morning Star Gallery.

Herbst, Toby, and Joel Kopp. The Flag in American Indian Art. Cooperstown, NY: New York State Historical Association, 1993, pp. 118-119, pl. 121.

Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.165.

Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 178.
On View
Not on view
Roach Spreader
Potawatomi
1800-1850
Hide
Apache
1910-1915
Necklace
Athapaskan
c. 1850-1880
Miniature Figure
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois)
1790-1800
War Record
Lakota (Teton Sioux)
c. 1880
Buffalo Robe
Mandan, Arikara, Hidatsa
1845
Shield
Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Cheyenne)
c. 1900
Bag
Anishinaabe (Red River Ojibwa)
c. 1790
Case
Kutenai
1840-1850
Knife and Knife Sheath
Southern Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Cheyenne)
1890-1910
Drum
Jaw
c. 1920
Gambling Mat or Board
Tlingit
c. 1775

5798 STATE HIGHWAY 80
COOPERSTOWN NY, 13326
607-547-1400

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