Oto Man

Description

The hair on the crown of this Oto man's head has been closely cropped or plucked, leaving an upright ridge. Referred to as "roaching," this hair style was especially popular among southern Siouan peoples and probably had a Woodlands origin. A braided lock on the crown, like the one seen here, was also common; war emblems or ornaments were often tied to it. The pendant suspended from the band around the man's neck appears to be a small padlock, an interesting adaptive use of a trade item. sketched by Bodmer at Pilcher's trading post on the return downriver in May 1834, this man was later pictured with a Missouri man (Plate 167) and a Ponca chief (Plate 171) in Tableau 7 of the aquatint atlas that accompanied Travels in the Interior of North America. The faint outline of another figure at the right suggests that this drawing may be one of the preliminary compositions for that aquatint.