Description:
Watercolor on paper. Signed l.c.: L. Riddles, Stamped u.r.: PLANCHE 28.
From: American Indian Painters, Vol. 1, p. 17: Leonard is another of the younger set of Oklahoma Indians who showed great promise in drawing and painting, but he did not continue as a professional artist. The painting included in this work shows remarkable skill as well as good taste. The buffalo dance is a popular subject with Indian artists. This dance is performed by many Plains Indians even today. For the Plains Indians the buffalo was the most important and valuable product of nature; its practical annihilation by the Whites struck a death blow to their culture and their mode of life and pauperized them. In the middle of the nineteenth century, hunting expeditions were organized for the delight of wealthy Americans and Europeans. Innumerable buffaloes were killed and left to rot on the prairies. The Indians were amazed and disgusted by this wanton waste, and despaired of the Indian future. They killed only from necessity and used absolutely every particle of the buffalo. Its flesh was their main source of food; they had de4vised an unexcelled means of preserving it by "jerking" and pounding it into pemmican, which made it easy to store and to carry. The nutritious marrow and fat were well prepared for keeping stored in the animals' bladder. The inner organs were eaten at the time of the hunt. The skin provided robes, saddles, parfleches, tents, lariats, ropes, belts and armaments. The horns were fashioned into spoons and drinking cups. The sinew served as thread. The bones were made into objects of use and adornment. Even the droppings of the animal (buffalo chips) had their value: dried they served as fuel. They provided comfort and saved the life of many Whites as well as Indians on the treeless Plains. Naturally such an animal was cherished by the people whose existence depended on it. To them, it became the symbol of long life and abundance, also of leadership and might. Many fold tales having the buffalo as hero gave entertainment; they were also used to teach the young moral principles. Songs celebrated the fabulous beast who also had a place in the totems. Important ceremonies honored the buffalo and illustrated the legends that had grown around it. The buffalo dance was basically a prayer to the spirit of the animal, begging forgiveness for the necessity in which the Indians were placed to hunt and kill it. It also asked the benevolent spirit to see the needs of men and to provide them with enough game to subsist. It was held regularly before the annual summer hunt and also at various times, when game was scarce. The participants wore buffalo masks and went through motions suggesting the life cycle of the buffalo, and the pantomime of the hunt. (Collection, University of Oklahoma)