some artists broke the outline of the horse where overlay occurred while others drew through the existing figure. In one drawing of a horse raid, twelve horses are shown being driven from a compound. Three complete horse figures appear; the remaining are indicated by heads — or, in one case, ears only — superimposed on the other figures. Human figures, on the other hand, are generally in the classic mid-century Plains style. The head and legs are in profile while the torso is turned 90 degrees. The arms are usually flung out on either side of the body. Other than by overlay, there is little attempt to show depth of field, foreshortening or modelling. In general, backgrounds are ignored. The ground of the drawing is the bound portion of the ledger. If two pages are used to portray the action as indicated by the continuance of hoofprints or footprints, the book is turned 180 degrees and the
drawing is completed, again oriented to the binding. Action is almost exclusively from right to left, a holdover from pictorial hide painting. However, as Barbara LaMort states in her thesis paper on the Schield Ledger Book, "The small multisurfaced ledger book necessitated the separation of scenes, and each unit received its own page. Freed of the complexities of a large surface and many scenes, the artist began to reconceive composition in relation to the size of the page and the unity of the single scene!' The identity of the individual artists has been determined by assigning a name to the warrior with the most autobiographical drawings in a particular horse style. This procedure revealed four major and five minor artists plus several one-page unknown craftsmen.' MAJOR ARTISTS An Unidentified Artist — probably either Two Birds or Black Bear —
BLACK BEAR Wearing an upright style headdress, Black Bear accosts a cavalryman. Notice the almost identical rendition of the horses.
Fall 1989
contributed ten pages to the book. Black Bear wears an imposing upright headdress decorated with ermine tails. Two Birds is shown with a distinctive red shield with full eagle feather fall, while White Elk carries a similar shield with a green cover. Red Lance contributed sixteen pages. Six are autobiographical, three are of White Horse, two of Buffalo Robe, and the remaining are of various warriors. Two identical actions drawn by Red Lance depicted his own coup on a military wagon and team, and also that of Buffalo Robe. Red Lance often drew his horses in true profile showing only two legs and in full rocking horse stance. He attached the name glyph identifying the brave by a wavy line rather than the dotted line used by other artists. One drawing of Buffalo Robe appears to have been a collaboration with Bear-with-Feathers who drew the mount in the picture. White Bird drew a total of seventeen
RED LANCE Carrying a ceremonial bow lance, Red Lance shoots at a trooper. This artist often draws horses in true profile.