Hotokaueh-Hoh, Piegan Blackfeet Man

Description

Hotokaueh-Hoh ("Head of the Buffalo Skin") posed for a portrait over a period of several days in August of 1833. He is shown here holding the stem of a medicine pipe decorated with eagle and other feathers, cloth, beads, horsehair, and flat projections that could be woodpecker bills. The stems were regarded as the most powerful portions of the several medicine pipes maintained by the Blackfeet. Each stem was kept in its own sacred bundle with related ritual objects. They were associated with war, healing, and the welfare of the people. It was a great responsibility to be the owner or keeper of a medicine pipe, and Maximilian remarked on the care with which HotokauehHoh unwrapped his sacred charge. Hotokaueh-Hoh's portrait was not reproduced for the aquatint atlas, but a drawing of the medicine pipe was incorporated into Tableau 48, one of the plates showing a variety of artifacts.