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.
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.