Makúie-Póka, Piegan Blackfeet Man

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

Makúie-Póka, Piegan Blackfeet Man

Date

August 19, 1833

Dimensions

12 9/16 × 10 in. (31.9 × 25.4 cm)

Medium

Watercolor and graphite on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.289

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

Makúie-Póka ("Child of the Wolf") was the son of a Blackfeet mother and a Kutenai who lived with the Blackfeet and had become one of their principal chiefs. Father and son were painted on the same day in mid-August at Fort McKenzie; see Image 1986.49.26 for a portrait of the father. Makúie-Póka is elaborately dressed in a striped blanket, a shirt with a rectangular beaded bib, and a wealth of ornaments. His fingers are covered with brass rings and he carries a large feather fan. Around his neck is an impressive bear claw necklace and above this a green, braided choker, probably made of sweet grass. In his hair he wears a pair of bows, brass-wrapped at the center and covered with beads and what appear to be dentalium shells. Dentalium shells were traded in from Pacific Coast tribes, whereas the long, white, tubular ornaments came from the West Indies via New Jersey and the fur traders. Called hair pipes, these tapered tubes were manufactured from the lip of a tropical conch shell as a New Jersey cottage industry. They were a popular trade item, used as ear pendants or, as shown here, part of long decorative strands attached to the hair.

References in Journal

August 19, 1833

Labels:

genre, portrait

Approximate Depicted Location:

Fort McKenzie, Montana