Oyukhpe Oglala group photograph at Pine Ridge, ca. 1895

[Californian]

group photograph at Pine Ridge, ca. 1895, unknown photographer

>> Red Cloud is in the front, seated holding a U.S. flag

click onto images to enlarge

[kingsleybray]

Dietmar and I have done some work on this photograph. There were several others done at the same time. We'll come back with some facts and thoughts. A lot of id's. I too thought Red Cloud right away, but on deeper reflection not sure.

[Dietmar]

This great group photo could already be found on an auction site a few weeks ago. Among other things, it was noted on the back of the picture that Red Cloud can be seen holding an American flag and wearing goggles.
As is so often the case, someone wanted to enhance the worth of the photo with a famous name. Red Cloud certainly is not in the picture.

What we see here, however, is an extremely interesting photo of a group of Oglala Indians from Pine Ridge. Unfortunately, the two scans on the auction page do not show all of them in focus.

After we were able to find out a few names, Kingsley Bray quickly established that they were Oyukhpe Oglala. We have now identified leading males from the main Oyukhpe families, e.g. descendants of Red Dog and Big Road.

There is not only one photo in this series. Two individual portraits of Bull Head and his wife were also offered. Two others were posted years earlier on another auction site.

There are also other pictures that can be dated to this series, as they feature the same people. Moreover it is likely that all the pictures were taken during 4th of July celebrations. This celebration was used at the beginning of the 20th century as a substitute for the already banned Sun Dance. Newspaper articles from the time suggest that the pictures were taken in 1903, perhaps even a few years later.

I will add more photos later.












Bull Head, Oglala (note Red Hawk in the background)



Bull Head´s wife "Tanka Mani"

[Dietmar]

Photographer A. G. Johnson from York, Nebraska, took photos on Pine Ridge possibly around the same time. At least some of the individuals of the Oyukhpe groups above are present in his pictures as well. Here are two scenes of the same group. I got one of them only as a small sample. The second one is available at Nebraska History archives:







Note that the unidentified man right of Looks Twice is also in the earlier group pictures in this thread. The man far right looks like the old man wearing goggles and a flag there.

[Californian]

here is a better quality scan 

click onto image to enlarge

[Californian]

here are the other two images from the same group

Bull Head with grandson
click onto image to enlarge


Tanka Mani, wife of Bull Head - she died before 1900 which gives credence that the images were taken ca. 1895
click onto image to enlarge