Hotokáneheh, Piegan Blackfeet Man

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

Hotokáneheh, Piegan Blackfeet Man

Date

August 1833

Dimensions

11 15/16 × 17 1/16 in. (30.3 × 43.3 cm)

Medium

Watercolor and graphite on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.288

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

Hotokáneheh ("Head of the Buffalo Skin") posed for a portrait over a period of several days in August of 1833 . He is shown here holding the stem of a medicine pipe decorated with eagle and other feathers, cloth, beads, horsehair, and flat projections that could be woodpecker bills. The stems were regarded as the most powerful portions of the several medicine pipes maintained by the Blackfeet. Each stem was kept in its own sacred bundle with related ritual objects. They were associated with war, healing, and the welfare of the people. It was a great responsibility to be the owner or keeper of a medicine pipe, and Maximilian remarked on the care with which Hotokáneheh unwrapped his sacred charge. Hotokáneheh's portrait was not reproduced for the aquatint atlas, but a drawing of the medicine pipe was incorporated into Tableau 48, one of the plates showing a variety of artifacts.

References in Journal

August 13, 1833

Labels:

genre, portrait

Approximate Depicted Location:

Fort McKenzie, Montana