Native American art from the late 19 and early 20th century is now on display again at the Sioux City Public Museum. Museum Curator Matt Anderson says the works were last shown locally in 2004. “They’re lithographic prints that were put together back in the 1930s,” Anderson says. “And the first 25 of them are kind of a mix of various Native American artists representing the Lakota, the Yankton Dakota, the Kiowa, and the Shoshone.”
Anderson says the 50 prints by nine Native American artists were publish in two parts as a limited edition in 1938. One group gives a unique look into the life of the people. “So the first 25 represent all aspects of native society, particularly dwell on ceremonies like the Sun Dance different horse related ceremonies things like that. There’s kind of a depiction of traditional native culture in those,” he says.
The second set of prints were done from the 1890’s through 1910 and feature an infamous battle. “The second 25 are by an artist named Amos Bad Heart Bull, and sometimes called Bad Heart Buffalo as well. And he did a series of drawings covering the Battle of Little Bighorn in which his father, Bad Heart Bull participated,” he says. “And it’s a very detailed accounting of king of the native perspective on how the Battle of Little Bighorn went.” The battle is also referred to as “Custer’s Last Stand,” as General George Armstrong Custer and all his men were killed.
The prints will be on display at the Sioux City Public Museum through March 3rd.
(By Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)