Roast or Roaster

[Dietmar]

We had some group photos in other threads where a man called Roast or Roaster was pictured with other Sicangu leaders. Here are some assembled portraits:


from a group photo with Standing Elk & Whirlwind Soldier


Standing Elk, Whirlwind Soldier & Roast


from a Goff or Barry photo


from a group photo with Rosebud leaders


Roast & Poor Dog

The last one is an unidentified photo in Bush/Mitchell´s "The Photograph and the American Indian" I believe it is Roast:

[grahamew]

That distinctive disk on the front of his shirt!

It's fairly obvious that the photos featuring the three men together were taken around the same time. I wonder what the occasion was.

From what was said on the other thread, especially in reference to the winter count, he was clearly a prominent man before these photos were taken so I'm surprised we haven't come across any earlier photos from the 70s.

[emilylevine]

Jan 12, 2010 17:41:18 GMT -5 grahamew said:

From what was said on the other thread, especially in reference to the winter count, .

FYI:
Baptiste Good winter count, 1864-65
"Roaster made a commemoration of the dead"

and that Waggoner refers to him as a historian...

Thanks for all these great photographs!

[shan]

In at least 3 of the photographs of the man Roast, including the one in which he wears a white hat, he wears that very distinctive shirt with the disc on the front, so I would guess that this was his own valued personal item rather than a studio prop.

Incidentally is anyone else experiencing either very very slow download, or else failure to download the whole of an image since we switched to having more previous posts on the board?

Low Dog

[Dietmar]

Here´s a wonderful article provided by Emily Levine:



Thank you Emily!

[dickmill]

Emily:

That's a great find! Can you provide the date and source?

Dick

[dickmill]

I can provide a broader context for some of the Roaster photos Dietmar posted above (and I’ll post the unclipped versions.) Here’s a little more information on 4 clips which Dietmar posted:


At first I thought it was a coincidence that Standing Elk, Roaster, and Whirlwind Soldier appeared together, but now several photos of them have appeared and I think I’ve discovered why. This will lead to a new thread I’ll start later today on Whirlwind Soldier and ties into former Rosebud Agent Cicero Newell.


The above photo is actually a page from Agent Newell's 1912 book “Indian Stories.” A warning is required here. Newell was agent at Rosebud in 1879 and known as a crook and scoundrel. He was replaced in 1880 by Agent Cook, who wasn’t much better (finally in 1882, Agent Wright the elder arrived and did good things for the agency.) Newell produced two “books” (the second I’ll get to on the upcoming Whirlwind Soldier thread is 15 pages long, thus the quotes.) He elevated himself to sainthood following his term in office (as you’ll see) and became an “expert” on Indians.

You can read the book yourself, but it’s full of BS (Dietmar can put that in German for those who don’t understand) and errors. It reads like he made everything up (which he probably did, since he has been described as drunk for most of his term.) I take examples just out of his last pages to demonstrate (he represents all the people he speaks of as his dear, close, friends):

1. “Two Strike and his family were killed by our soldiers at the massacre of the Dakotas at Wounded Knee Creek.” (Untrue, of course.)
2. “Mr dear old friend Spotted Tail was murdered by one of his own tribe – Crow Dog.” “[Crow Dog] was a brave and efficient man, but like many of his Indian brothers he gave way in time to the temptations of the white man. He became addicted to the use of the white man’s whiskey, and in a fit of drunken rage killed his best friend, Spotted Tail.” (all BS)
3. “When the time comes for me to pass on to the Happy Hunting Ground of future life, I hope that one of the first persons I may meet there will be my dear old friend Spotted Tail. I want to show him how much I love him and how I respect him as a brother.” (had enough? – one more…)
4. “When Spotted Tail was buried (on platforms, as is the Indian way…” (Spotted Tail was buried in the Spotted Tail cemetery, assisted by the Episcopalian missionary, Rev Cleveland. Since he was not baptized, the burial wasn’t sanctioned by the church, but the order of service is documented in the Episcopal burial records.)

In his book on page 26 (you can see the entire book here books.google.com/books?id=1dYAAAAAYAAJ&dq=cicero+newell+indian+stories&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=kzJt6nlBgY&sig=fiI_ZIgbUIAVzx61sZtuLMzISok&hl=en&ei=P-pNS7mqCZDKlAf6v4SODQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false), is the above photo (there is no other mention in the book about Standing Elk, Roaster, or Whirlwind Soldier.)


I’ll explain the connection of the three men to Newell and help identify the children and wives in the Whirlwind Soldier thread (coming soon, I promise.)



The above image is a delegation photo taken in Sep, 1888 at Lower Brule. This gathering of tribes from all 6 agencies preceded the big trip to Washington that was documented by the group photo in Oct, 1888 on the Capital steps. I've spent a lot of time trying to get good ID's for this photo.

On the rear of my copy is the following newspaper clipping. The problem is that the names aren’t given in order of the photo and several people in the photo are unidentified. Note: I believe that “Rope” is meant to be “Roaster.”


On a trip to the Smithsonian, in the files of the Handbook of the American Indian, I found a copy of the photo with an attempt at ID’s. (If it isn’t clear enough, I can email a copy to anyone who requests.)










Of note, “Roaster” is ID’ed as “Roust” and "Major Spencer", should be "Colonel."


The photo below is from my collection, Roaster sitting in the middle. I have never seen this photo elsewhere. We know now (thanks to Dietmar), the the man to Roaster's left is Poor Dog, but I would be grateful for any other ID's!

[kingsleybray]

Roast, or Roaster, is listed in the 1900 Rosebud Reservation census, his birth date given as March 1821. He is listed on the same page as Two Strike, which suggests that his home was with or near the Two Strike community at modern St. Francis. Emily's posting of his obituary confirms this. He is also listed near Slow Thunder, birth date given as 1828. A man of this name, to judge from the 1887 Rosebud census born about a decade earlier than the latter date, was an important headman among the Upper Brules in the 1870s. In the 1877 Spotted Tail Agency delegation to Washington, Ring Thunder represented Slow Thunder's band.

What was this band? There was a Brule band called Roaster (Wacheunpa or Wamecheunpa). Bands of the same name existed among the Oglalas (identified with the Stabber family) and the Yanktons. Because of the similarity of the name I have speculated that this was the band of our man Roaster. However the Lakota form of his name is not an exact match. According to Victor Douville the Roaster band settled in the Grass Mountain community area, very near to Two Strike's community - so again we may have a match.

Roaster was named as a headman (wakichunze or decider) in the Brule village on the Republican R. in the winter of 1871-72. According to the Omaha Daily Bee of Aug. 21, Roaster was with the Brule delegation to Washington in 1872. No man of that name is among those photographed by Alex. Gardner, but I had speculated that Roaster corresponded to the Gardner sitter named Bald Eagle, Anuksan wambli. That was before I had seen any authenticated portraits of Roaster. Could we upload the SIRIS image of Bald Eagle, Dietmar, and compare? He is a distinctly leaner individual than the Roaster of the 1880s, but you facial experts can compare in depth.

Now we know that Roaster was a very important holy man, and indeed the Battiste Good winter count records that he was the holy man who held a major Ghost Owning ceremony in 1864-65. Emily's information indicates that he was an historian, perhaps keeping a winter count.

[grahamew]

Hmmm...

[emilylevine]

Dickmill, Great stuff; thank you for all that. And Kingsley, too.

The Roast article is from The Indian Sentinel, a publication of the Catholic Bureau of Indian Missions. (1916, issue number 1--I think, page 25) Marquette has them all digitized, available, and searchable on their site. I have found The Indian Sentinel to be a great source, albeit with their Catholic bent. There is information as well as photographs that I haven't seen published elsewhere. In general, Marquette has done a great job getting a lot of their material online. Of course, I'd love to go there to look at everything they have...
Here's the URL for a general inventory of what they have:

www.marquette.edu/library/collections/archives/Special_Collections/christianity_and_native_america.html

It's a rich site with lots to explore.

I want to once again thank everyone who contributes here. We get a mention of Wapasnu--not a well-known man--and within a few days we start to amass a sizable amount of information.
Em

[Dietmar]

Dick,

I don´t dare to translate BS into German here, but it sounds very similar ;D

Henri has sent me this scan from the book "Lakotas,Black Robes and Holy Women - German reports from the Indian Missions in SD" by Karl Markus Kreis



Thank you Henri!

After pointed to it by Henri, I found Roast mentioned on page 103 in Kreis´ book:

From Annaul Report 1899
A Letter from the Missions.
St. Francis Mission, Rosebud, Dakota, February 7.

(…) It is visible far and wide as a sign that here the belief in Christ has been victorious over heathenism. With very few exceptions, all the redskins resting on our God´s acre died in the innocence of baptism and are no doubt saved. Old Anna, Joachim´s wife, both of whom you surely remember, is there as well, and the first thing that Joachim told me at our joyful reunion was that his Anna had died and was resting herein the cemetery. He still shed a tear in her honor, but then right away proceeded to report that he had again another Anna for a wife; she was good, too. Three weeks later, this one also fell in and died a good death. Joachim mourned, lamented, and wept over his seventh wife, visited the grave several times, chanted and wailed the usual mourning songs, and now it is all right. Will he receive the seventh sacrament another time and get himself another Anna? Most likely, for the 80-year-old man is dependent upon help. Joachim still looks the same as before, only his jet black, cascading hair is turning somewhat gray. (…)
with the love of the divine heart,
your grateful child.
Sr. M. N.

You also learn something about the way the missionaries thought in those days in the letter above, I´m afraid.

I think Bald Eagle indeed resembles Roast, Kingsley, although there are more than ten years between the photos ...and he is much leaner in 1872. At least I see the same small eyes and lips.

[Dietmar]

Henri asked me if anyone knows about photographer Fred O. Bloom of Fort Niobrara, who took the photo of roast above.

[dickmill]

There are no references to "Fred O. Bloom" in Paul's Fleming's books nor in "They Captured the Moment" (Robert Kolbe.)

I did find him listed 4 times in a Google book search in the book "Lakotas, Black Robes, and Holy Women" (Kreis, translated from German to English, but only some pages shown on Google books.)

Dietmar: Do you have this book? I'd be interested in the photos (pages not given) described as "Girls School of Rosebud Agency" (Bloom), "Fathers and Brothers of St. Francis Mission", "Sisters of St. Francis Mission", and "St. Francis Mission", last 3 by Anderson.

[Dietmar]

Just for better comparison, the profile of Bald Eagle. It doesn´t make it easier though, I´m afraid:

[Dietmar]

Okay, I just made a montage of these three photos. The first from left is Roast from the group photo with Whirlwind Soldier and Standing Elk we already had. The next two are variants (the right one is unfortunately very blurry) of a group photograph in 1872, when Bald Eagle was in Washington with the Brule delegation.
I am now convinced that Bald Eagle is the same man as Roast:




Julius Meyer, One Who Runs the Tiger, Bald Eagle, Gassy


Julius Meyer, One Who Runs the Tiger, Bald Eagle, Gassy