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Key Ideas
Hide painting, an ancient tradition among Plains people, was used to record important events.

This painting depicts important elements of Plains culture - horses, buffalo, and aspects of the Grass Dance and sacred Sun Dance.

Northwest Coast Southwest Mississippi Valley Northeast Woodlands Plains

 
Introduction --
Elk Hide Details
Elk Hide History
The Horse
Elkhide Label: Attributed to Cadzi Cody, Wind River Shoshone, Great Plains region (United States), Wyoming, Wind River Reservation, Scenes of Plains Indian Life, about 1900, Elk hide with pigment, Gift of Bruce Dayton, 85.92

Painting on animal hide is an ancient tradition of Plains people. This painting is made on an elk hide. If you look closely, you can see the shape of the four legs, neck, and tail. A Shoshone man named Cadzi Cody painted events he experienced during a time of great change for the Shoshone people: parts of a Sun Dance, a Grass Dance, and a buffalo hunt. These events changed with the times or were lost altogether during Cadzi Cody's adult life on the Wind River Reservation.

Pipe Bowl Elkhide Pipe Bag Shield Dress Baby Bonnet Native Amercan History and Culture

 

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