A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve: Studia Historiae Literarum et Artium, 4. (Szeged, 2004)

Nagy Imre: A Preliminary Report on the Friedman Kein Canvas

depicts an actual encounter between a Cheyenne warrior and a US soldier, it could not have happened later than 1876-78. In this case, the scene is the earliest documented use of US flags as Plains Indian attire. (14) R4C2 The Cheyenne has dismounted from his red horse. The clothing of the man and his horse's accoutrements indicate that this is the same hero as R3C1. The long trailing warbonnet is missing from his head now, but small red feathers are tied to the top of his head. He carries a spotted cowhide quiver on his back. Behind him, an enemy lies on his back. This enemy Indian has a black shirt, with a wide red belt. His hair is braided, and a small greenish-blue lizard amulet, and a greenishblue hoop is tied into his hair at the top of his head. A „flying" bow at the forehead of the Indian enemy marks the first coup of the Cheyenne in this encounter. The Cheyenne warrior, who is facing left, grasps with both hands the second enemy, also an Indian. Definitely, this is a wrestling scene, where the enemy wears leggings made from striped blanket, and a loop necklace with some circular ornament at the bottom. (15)R4C3 Another pursuit scene, where a mounted US soldier flies from the pursuing Cheyenne. The scene is definitely unfinished, which is clearly demonstrated by the fact that the metal parts of the „flying" gun are painted light blue, while the wooden parts are uncolored. The soldier turns back in his saddle, and blood is indicated by the use of red paint on his face and left shoulder. The flying weapon touches his left shoulder, indicating that the pursuing Cheyenne struck his body with the gun after wounding him. The Cheyenne wears a fur turban ornamented with circular mirrors (represented as light blue circles), and red breath feathers. He also carries a shield. This shield is not documented in any other Cheyenne visual sources known to the author. After this short survey we should conclude that the Friedman Kein Canvas is an unfinished product of the Cheyenne art community. The missing colors and unfinished pencil lines underscore this observation. Examining the figures and the levels of execution it seems most probable that work was started in the upper right corner scenes (R1C4 and RI C3). All the horses and the majority of the enemy figures were then drawn by one artist, but the hero figures were added by the actual persons who did the war deeds. This process of execution explains why so many artists' hands are represented on the canvas. The unfinished state of the art explains the considerable emptiness on the lower left corner of the canvas. Apparently the lowest two registers were intended to be filled with other scenes but for unknown reasons this never happened. The other conclusion is that all the war deeds on the upper strip of canvas represent - with the one exception of R2C1 - honors of the Southern Cheyenne Bowstring Society members. Represented are the society's rattles (R1C1 ; R1C2; R1C4), two types of feathered banner lances (R1C3; R2C2; R2C3; R2C4), and a scalp lance (R2C5). Scenes on the lower strip of canvas show no such consistency, or we could not recognize them if they are present. The Cheyenne hero in R4C1, wearing the horned headdress with single trailer of eagle feathers might be one of the leaders of the Northern Cheyenne Hotamémâsèhàô 'о, or Crazy 107