Päsesick-Kaskutäu, Assiniboin Man

Description

This undated portrait carries no identifying inscription and was not reproduced as an aquatint or woodcut. However, the subject matches Maximilian's description of Päsesick-Kaskutäu ("Nothing But Gunpowder"), an Assiniboin of the Stone band painted at Fort Union in October of 1833. He wears a badger skin cap, what appears to be a coat tailored from buffalo hide, and mittens. Maximilian observed that the latter were rare among Indians. Well equipped for a hunting expedition or raid, he carries a gun, ramrod, powder horn, ammunition bag, and sheathed dagger.