Makúie-Póka, Piegan Blackfeet Man

Description

Makúie-Póka ( "Child of the Wolf") was the son of a Blackfeet mother and a Kutenai who lived with the Blackfeet and had become one of their principal chiefs. Father and son were painted on the same day in mid-August at Fort McKenzie; see Plate 26 for a portrait of the father. Makúie-Póka is elaborately dressed in a striped blanket, a shirt with a rectangular beaded bib, and a wealth of ornaments. His fingers are covered with brass rings and he carries a large feather fan. Around his neck is an impressive bear claw necklace and above this a green, braided choker, probably made of sweet grass. In his hair he wears a pair of bows, brass-wrapped at the center and covered with beads and what appear to be dentalium shells. Dentalium shells were traded in from Pacific Coast tribes, whereas the long, white, tubular ornaments came from the West Indies via New Jersey and the fur traders. Called hair pipes, these tapered tubes were manufactured from the lip of a tropical conch shell as a New Jersey cottage industry. They were a popular trade item, used as ear pendants or, as shown here, part of long decorative strands attached to the hair.

Original German Title

None

Medium

watercolor on paper

Dimensions

12 1/4 x 9 7/8

Call No.

JAM.1986.49.289

Approximate Date of Creation

August 1833