"Indian Ponies and Riders in Costume" (early 1900s). Lantern Slide Image P201 (23093), Keystone View Company
Notice that a couple horses in the photo have on horse masks, a unique visual art form created by Native American artists. Masks were usually used for parades or ceremonies, not for battle, because they limited a horse’s range of vision. The art still thrives today. Outstanding examples of horse masks were at an exhibition called “A Song for the Horse Nation” at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. Here are a few examples:
www.flickr.com/photos/57440551@N03/6709834503/in/set-7215...
www.flickr.com/photos/57440551@N03/6709845369/in/set-7215...
www.flickr.com/photos/57440551@N03/6709858013/in/set-7215...
Accompanying the slide is the following text clearly aimed at youngsters by the Keystone View Company:
“Long ago, when the Sioux Indians were wild people, the boys had many games. Some were with the bow and arrow, or wrestling, or swimming, or racing. Sometimes they had fights with mud balls. What would your mother say to this kind of game? One of the queerest sports was a war upon the nests of wild bees. They played the bees were Indian enemies. They painted their faces as their fathers did when ready for the warpath. Then with a warwhoop they rushed at the nest. If the bees stung them they pretended not to care. One of the best games of all was racing. Some of the Indian ponies are very swift. The boys learned to ride them with no saddle but with a blanket thrown over their backs. They did not guide the ponies with reins, but by their legs and the swaying of their bodies.
“In the picture are some grown-up Sioux Indians on their racing ponies. Can you see the feathers they wear? When the Indians were wild people, eagles’ feathers could be worn only by those who had done a certain brave deed. A war bonnet could be worn by a man who had won ten battles. A warrior might wear one with long, trailing plumes if he were a leader the Indians liked to follow. Other braves could wear feathers, but not eagles’ feathers or war bonnets.”
"Indian Ponies and Riders in Costume" (early 1900s). Lantern Slide Image P201 (23093), Keystone View Company
Notice that a couple horses in the photo have on horse masks, a unique visual art form created by Native American artists. Masks were usually used for parades or ceremonies, not for battle, because they limited a horse’s range of vision. The art still thrives today. Outstanding examples of horse masks were at an exhibition called “A Song for the Horse Nation” at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. Here are a few examples:
www.flickr.com/photos/57440551@N03/6709834503/in/set-7215...
www.flickr.com/photos/57440551@N03/6709845369/in/set-7215...
www.flickr.com/photos/57440551@N03/6709858013/in/set-7215...
Accompanying the slide is the following text clearly aimed at youngsters by the Keystone View Company:
“Long ago, when the Sioux Indians were wild people, the boys had many games. Some were with the bow and arrow, or wrestling, or swimming, or racing. Sometimes they had fights with mud balls. What would your mother say to this kind of game? One of the queerest sports was a war upon the nests of wild bees. They played the bees were Indian enemies. They painted their faces as their fathers did when ready for the warpath. Then with a warwhoop they rushed at the nest. If the bees stung them they pretended not to care. One of the best games of all was racing. Some of the Indian ponies are very swift. The boys learned to ride them with no saddle but with a blanket thrown over their backs. They did not guide the ponies with reins, but by their legs and the swaying of their bodies.
“In the picture are some grown-up Sioux Indians on their racing ponies. Can you see the feathers they wear? When the Indians were wild people, eagles’ feathers could be worn only by those who had done a certain brave deed. A war bonnet could be worn by a man who had won ten battles. A warrior might wear one with long, trailing plumes if he were a leader the Indians liked to follow. Other braves could wear feathers, but not eagles’ feathers or war bonnets.”