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Post by Dietmar on Mar 22, 2010 8:09:32 GMT -5
We had a long thread at the LBH boards back in 2007 about the 1851 delegation, which went to Washington after the first Treaty of Fort Laramie. I compiled some of the posts for our main site. It is online now here: www.american-tribes.com/Articles/ART/1851Delegation.htmThe original thread can still be found here: lbha.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tribes&action=print&thread=2792Some questions are still unanswered, some others have been brought up in a conversation I had with Kingsley. Maybe we can find out new things all together. First, we wondered about the individuals in this group photo again. We had a list of IDs from the librarian of the Fort Laramie Historical site with Arapaho and Cheyenne names. Nevertheless, some had the impression that one of the delegates, sitting second from right, resembles Lone Horn in some way, who likely was part of the delegation. Now we have a new Lone Horn photo to compare, taken most likely in 1875. I will post a comparison later. One other question, there are several versions of the DeSmet letters online, who has written about the delegation, I tried to find one version with the original spellings. The following are the names of the Indian deputies.
The Sheyenne envoys are — Voki vokammast, or The White Antelope; Obalawsha, or Red Skin; and Voive atoish, or The man that mounts the clouds.
The Rapaho deputies are — Nehunutah, or Eagle's Head; Nocobotha, or The Tempest; and Vash, or Friday.
The Sioux deputies are — Haboutzelze, or The Unicorn; Kaive ou neve, or The Little Chief ; Pouskawit cah cah, or The Shellman ; Chakahakeechtah, or The Watchful Elk ; and Mawgah, or the Goose. The last belongs to the Blackfoot Sioux.
The two Ottos and their wives, who joined us afterward, were Wah-rush-a-menee, or the Black Deer ; and his wife, Mookapec, or the Eagle's Plume ; Wah-sho-chegorah, or the Black Bear ; and his wife Hou-ohpec, or The Singing Bird. I remember it was stated that Red Skin and Little Chief are names of the same man. On the list they both appear. Interestingly, Red Skin is mentioned as a Cheyenne delegate, but his Indian name sounds clearly like a Lakota name (Obalawsha). Little Chief, who is listed by DeSmet as a Sioux has a Cheyenne name (Kaive ou neve). Any thoughts?
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Post by Dietmar on Mar 22, 2010 10:56:43 GMT -5
I just looked in John P. Powell´s footnotes (People of the Sacred Mountain) where you can read that the statement Little Chief and Red Skin would be one person comes from George Bird Grinnell. Right now I believe he interpreted they must be one because he couldn´t explain why they are mixed up in DeSmet´s list. Little Chief is mentioned by both Powell and George Bent as a council chief of the Southern Cheyennes. It is most likely that he was part of the delegation.
I don´t have much information on Red Skin, but remember one portrait of a delegate with a war-bonnet is labelled Red Plume, a Sihasapa. Perhaps these are translations of the same Indian name?!
Further on, as I said earlier, I think the man labelled Red Plume is the same as the man in the photo labelled BigRib/Fought by the War Eagle. In DeSmet´s list there is no man of that latter name, so to me it´s more likely that the correct name is Red Plume/Red Skin.
So my bottomline at the moment is, Little Chief and Red Skin are different persons in that delegation.
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Post by kingsleybray on Mar 22, 2010 13:05:27 GMT -5
I have some information that may help to clarify some of these issues. The Washington NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER for January 7, 1852 has a report on the "final interview of the PRAIRIE INDIANS now in the city with the PRESIDENT". It identifies the delegation's two interpreters accompanying Upper Platte Indian Agent Thomas Fitzpatrick as "MR. JAMES [sic, John] S. SMITH, for the Arrapahoes and Cheyennes, and MR. JOSEPH TESSON HONORE for the Sioux and Ottoes."
The delegates are listed:
"There are three Arrapahoes.-Nea Netha, or Eagle-head; Nakoubatha, the Storm; Oi Narka, the White Crow. Three Cheyennes.-Voki Vokomast, White Antelope; Kai Veonnave, Little Chief; Voi Vatosh, he who moves on the cloud. Five Sioux.-Haiwan Sitsa, one Horn; Wambalupe Luta, the Red Plume; Ponkesko Wechasa, the man made of Shells; Echakaha Keekta, the Wary Elk; and Mahga, or the Corn Nubbin. The male Ottoes are two.-Wahdoshmanye, the faithful Partisan; Wahchaicheekeree, the Partisan that killed his enemy on his return. The two male Iowas are - Lowwayee, Little Beaver, and Wohchitchie, the Hunter. There are three Otto women , squaws or wives of some of the foregoing. Their names are: Pahtookekrehmee, the Cedar Tree; Enokopee, the Wife, and Howepee, Good Day. There is an Iowa woman, who glories in the euphonious and poetic designation of Mahwemee, the Budding Leaf."
Remarks on the "alleged inequality of rank of Mahga, who belongs to the Seosapa or Blackfeet band of the Sioux, and who had furnished no evidence of his being accredited by his band, beyond his own testimony".
Speeches were made by Wahdoshomanye (Oto); Nacoubatha, The Storm (Arapaho), Wambalupe Luta, Red Plume (Sioux), and Voki Vokomast , White Antelope (Cheyenne). Red Plume made a pointed reference to the unaccredited status of Maga, the Sihasapa (Blackfoot Sioux) delegate, saying "that he [i.e. Red Plume] did not come here of his own accord. (This was probably a hit at poor Mahga.) He was invited here." Each delegate was then presented with a Presidential medal by Agent Fitzpatrick, and President Fillmore further stated that each would be presented with an American flag. The delegation was then expected to leave for the West later the same week.
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Post by kingsleybray on Mar 22, 2010 13:32:17 GMT -5
Analysing some of the above, I infer that some of the confusion has been created by Fr De Smet, who transposed two names in his list of delegates. His "Kaive ou neve or the Little Chief" is misplaced among the Sioux delegates and should be listed as Cheyenne. His "Obalawsha, or Red Skin" is misplaced as Cheyenne and should be listed as Sioux. Dietmar correctly read the latter name as sounding Lakota. I think it is another form of the name recorded in the newspaper account as Wambalupe Luta. The words -sha and Luta both refer to the colour red. And I think we have a name match to positively identify this delegate (and the photo identified as Red Plume or Big Rib etc.). The name Wambli pehin luta, refers to an eagle with red plumage. We find it first in the record in 1804 when Lewis & Clark tabulated "War-mun-de-o-pe-in-do-tar" as one of the chiefs of the Saone division of the Teton Sioux or Lakota. (Saone was an early name identifying several northern Teton divisions including the Sans Arc and the Hunkpapa.) In 1865 the first signatory of the Sans Arc treaty at Ft Sully was "Wah-mun-dee-o-pee-doo-tah, The War Eagle with the Red Tail", a later chief carrying the same name. I think our 1851 delegate is probably the same man as the 1865 signatory.
We can continue to follow this man in the record, since an 1871 report in the Cheyenne River Agency Letters Received microfilm identifies "Wam-be-lu-pe-lutah (Burnt face) a Chief of the Sans Arc band of Sioux Indians, [who] has cultivated for the last two years about thirty five acres . . . at a place 12 miles below this Agency". Burnt Face is obviously a second or nickname. In 1875 a newspaper report from the Black Hills talks at Red Cloud Agency noted the presence of Burnt Face, second chief of the Sans Arcs (the first or principal chief at the agency was Crow Feather.) In the 1876 military register of Cheyenne River Burnt Face's age is noted as 60, born ca. 1816. (That would make him about thirty-five or -six during the 1851-52 delegation.) In 1879 Burnt Face was one of the leaders of the Cheyenne R. Indians (mostly Two Kettles and Sans Arcs) who fled to Rosebud to get away from the martinet regime then running Cheyenne River.
More on other delegates later, but please send in your thoughts. Is the Red Plume/Big Ribs image that of a man in his mid-thirties, for instance? As I indicated to Dietmar I thought these were two different men wearing the same clothing, but there are better facial identifiers ought there than me! Please help!
Kingsley
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Post by Dietmar on Mar 22, 2010 14:58:13 GMT -5
Red Plume Fought by the War Eagle/Big Rib or Red Plume?
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Post by Dietmar on Mar 29, 2010 8:14:01 GMT -5
From Kingsley´s post above: "There are three Arrapahoes.-Nea Netha, or Eagle-head; Nakoubatha, the Storm; Oi Narka, the White Crow." The Arapaho Friday had several names during his lifetime. As a boy he was called Black Spot (Warshinun) or Black Coal Ashes. After a fight with the Pawnees he took one of his father´s names, White Crow. After another fight, this time with the Shoshones, he took a second name, Thunder. Finally, after being part of a war party that destroyed a Ute camp of seven lodges near Bear River, he got the name “The Man Who Sits in the Corner and Keeps his Mouth Shut” (also translated shortly as Sits Brooding, "teénokúhú"). So the man called White Crow in the INTELLIGENCER article should be Friday. btw, the only photo of the 1851/52 delegation we haven´t posted here or at our main site is this of Lola Montez and Alights-on-a-Cloud: Lola Montez & Alights-on-a-Cloud, Cheyenne According to Paula Fleming/Judith Luskey the daguerreotype was made by J. Hawes sometime during the delegation trip. Lola Montez was a prominent dancer and actress.
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Post by charlie on Jun 28, 2011 11:05:18 GMT -5
Usually, the 1851 photo above of chief Red Plume (and of the other important chief Alights on the clouds, taken in the same occasion) are attributed to Antonio Z. Shindler. But I have another info about the photographer: JOHN H. FITZGIBBON. Which is the correct? And anyone can added info about the "terrificant" RED PLUME?
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Post by Dietmar on Sept 18, 2011 7:20:34 GMT -5
Charlie, I think Fitzgibbon is said to be the photographer who took the portraits of the delegation at St. Louis. The speech of Red Plume is printed in the New-York Daily Tribune, on January 09, 1852: “On Tuesday the Indian Delegates at Washington had an interview with Col. Lea, at the Indian Bureau. (…)
Wambalupe Luta (Sioux) said, that he did not come here of his own accord. (This was probably a hit at poor Magha) he was invited here. He had been well received and kindly treated and he would in his own country return this kindness to the whites he might meet there. A treaty had been made – a treaty of peace. All the Indians had shaken hands; they were no longer each other´s enemies. He was poor, had no learning, but he was somebody in his own country; he had made peace, and he hoped it would be good. He hoped he would be sent back on horseback, and have something given him to show that he had been here. He hoped he would find his children alive, and that all would be well when he got home. He repeated his wish for something to take home. “
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Post by Dietmar on Oct 15, 2011 9:46:24 GMT -5
By looking through the Smithsonian´s collection of paintings by Antonio Zeno Shindler, I found this one of Red Plume: O-mata-ah-luta (Red Plume) ca. 1887 by Antonion Zeno Shindler This supports our earlier statements (above), when we concluded that the portrait shows Red Plume rather than Big Rib or other names which can be found in other publications or in the net. americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=22327
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Post by kingsleybray on Oct 28, 2011 3:26:40 GMT -5
Thanks Dietmar for posting the magnificent Shindler portrait. It affords a lot more detail on the regalia of this 1851-52 delegate. He is correctly I think Wambli-pehin-luta, Red-Tailed Eagle (War Eagle with a Red Tail), a prominent headman among the Sans Arc tribal division of the Teton Lakota. I have been researching Sans Arc history closely during the past year, and I believe he belonged to the Keze-ti (Barb Tipi) sub-band of the True Sans Arc band. Possibly, as his magnificent outfit might suggest, he had been seated as a Wichasa Yatapika, an Honoured Man, by a general council of most of the Teton people held in the summer of 1850 to nominate leaders to act as negotiators in the pending treaty councils with the USA.
He was also known as Burnt Face, and his band settled along Chantier Creek (a west tributary of the Missouri) soon after the establishment of Cheyenne River Agency in 1868-69. According to the 1876 military register of Indians at Cheyenne River he was then 60 years old, so born ca. 1815-16. He was among the people who left Cheyenne River and moved to Rosebud in 1879, where he probably died in the early 1880s, since he does not (so far as I know) appear in the post-1886 census records.
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Post by gregor on Mar 13, 2012 14:49:08 GMT -5
Hello, I would like to reopen the discussion of the people in the above group picture - members of the 1851 delegation. I was recently a little concerned with the Lakota delegations to Washington between 1851 and 1888. In particular, I was also interested on the1851 participant Shell Man or Shellman. I remembered that G. Catlin painted Shell Man around 1832 at Fort Pierre. Shell Man was then a young warrior. I compared Catlin's paintings and the group photo again and again and believe that the man in the middle is actually Shell Man (look at the eyes, mouth, nose, and also the parting of the hair). Almost twenty years after the painting he looks older of course. But the longer I compared the faces, the more I became convinced that it could be either Shell Man. The same with Red Plume, (look at the eyebrows, mouth, nose and the wrinkle nose to mouth). I think he is the second man from the left. The other people are assured. Look at my montage. And here a better Version of the handsome looking Shell Man: What do you think?
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Post by kingsleybray on Mar 14, 2012 2:15:00 GMT -5
Interesting, gregor, but I'll let the face experts out there weigh in on this one.
On the same group photo from 1851, though, that gregor has just used for his montage: can Photoshop or some other app/programme help to clean up the image? I was hoping for a sharpened image of the man we've agreed is Lone Horn (seated, second from right) - but for comparison purposes generally.
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Post by Dietmar on Mar 14, 2012 11:25:05 GMT -5
Thanks Gregor, before I post my thoughts on your theory I upload the best scan of the delegation I can get: Gregor, I know you can handle Photoshop, can you sharpen the photo?
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Post by Dietmar on Mar 14, 2012 12:29:55 GMT -5
Okay, let me first repeat the information that Sandra Lowry, the librarian of the NPS of Fort Laramie Historic Site, had sent me a couple of years ago: We have the following information:Photo of Arapaho and Cheyenne members of the delegation that may have been taken October 24, 1851. That evening the delegates were the honored guests of the Jesuits at St. Louis University.
The photo is credited to the Jesuit Missouri Province Archives 4517 West Pine Blvd. St. Louis, Mo 63108
Arapaho Indian list on the left list: The Tempest Eagle Head Friday Interpreters: Smith and ? (looks like Cepson, but that isn't right [It] is possibly Tesson)
Sheyennes: listed on the right side (Cheyenne Indians) White Fawn Red Skin Mounts the Clouds
I did try to track down the name of the other interpreter, but couldn't find it in what we had here. I hope that this helps.
Sandra Lowry Librarian
We have proven that there must be errors in this list of Indian names: - Friday (Arapaho) is surely sitting on the far left, not third from left, as indicated. - White Antelope (Cheyenne) is sitting third from right, the name White Fawn is a poor translation or an error. - Mounts the Cloud is better known as Alights-on-a-Cloud (Cheyenne), but is correctly placed at far right. So we have three individuals left to identify. If Red Skin is indeed in the photo, he cannot be the man second from right. Kingsley pointed out that Red Skin is a mistranslation of Red Plume (Sans Arc) or War Eagle with The Red Tail. Furthermore, the man in the picture looks a lot like Lone Horn (Miniconjou). Gregor´s suggestion that Red Plume is sitting second from left makes sense to me. I see a resemblance as well, even if I wouldn´t say I´m absolutely sure. So what about the man sitting third from left? If he would be Shell Man, it means that none of the two listed Arapaho delegates are in the photo. Is it probable? Frankly, it´s too hard for me to compare a Catlin portrait with a photograph taken almost twenty years later. I can only say: maybe. But if anyone has information on Shell Man, it would be great to hear. Catlin has him as an Oglala warrior. I also read on the net that his daughter later lived on Pine Ridge. I wonder if there is any link to the Wazhazha leader Quick Bear, whose father was also named Shell Man.
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Post by kingsleybray on Mar 14, 2012 15:37:56 GMT -5
Dietmar,
that's a detail that has eluded me: that Quick Bear's father was named Shell Man. What is the source for this statement?
Thanks
Kingsley
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