Pictorial Hide

The present hide, one of the few surviving works by George Bull Child (1893-1969), exhibits classic Blackfeet stylistic characteristics, including the schematic rendition of human figures in triangular form and horses with elongated rectangular bodies. The composition is spread along the length of the hide, corresponding to the horizontal orientation of pre-reservation hides which were worn as robes by the warriors whose war exploits are depicted. George Bull Child’s work is marked by an expanded colour palette which includes the liberal use of blue, red, yellow, and green alongside black and reddish-brown. The artist has signed the hide with a glyph of a buffalo followed by a calf in the bottom right corner. The painting appears to refer to a confrontation between the U.S. army, identifiable by the blue trousers and black shirts with white bandoliers, and at least one Native American party. The liberal use of hoof marks adds a great sense of movement to the composition. According to a diagram that accompanies the hide, the painting depicts “Crook’s Expedition Against the Sioux”, likely referring to one of the many expeditions led by General George Crook in the late 19th century. It is possible that George Bull Child, who was fluent in spoken and written English, relayed this information to the hide’s first non-Indigenous owner, though we cannot know for certain. Blackfeet pictographic paintings were viewed communally and the exact events described in them passed down orally by the keeper of these histories.