Jessica Crabtree

December 29, 1890: US troops open fire on Lakota men, women, and children following their surrender in what becomes known as the Wounded Knee Massacre

Wounded Knee is considered the last major armed confrontation between US military and Native Americans. By 1890 all of the Indians of the Great Plains had been forcibly removed to reservations, except for a few hundred Miniconjou and Hunkpapa Lakota under the leadership of Chief Spotted Elk, or Big Foot, Sitting Bull’s half-brother. In December of 1890, they consented to disarmament demands and agreed to military escort onto reservation land. When the band camped near the trading post of Wounded Knee in present-day South Dakota, they were surrounded by the artillery of the 7th Cavalry under James Forsyth and ordered to disarm. In the midst of a tense standoff a rifle went off, triggering a barrage fired from Hotchkiss guns directly onto the camp at short range.

In the ensuing massacre, soldiers gunned down women, children, and the elderly, even pursuing the fleeing into the ravine along the Wounded Knee Creek. 25 soldiers of the 7th Cavalry were killed, many of them victims of friendly fire; no accurate number of Indian casualties has been determined. Estimates range from 100 to as many as 400, including those who died in the following hours as a result of injuries and cold exposure. The dead and wounded were left in the snow for several days, until finally being buried in a makeshift mass grave.

Wikipedia: Wounded Knee

Wounded Knee: First Hand Accounts

First Hand Accounts – from the PBS Series “The West”

Photo credit: Public domain

Ok, so they’re not reindeer – but these musk oxen are impressive animals. These contemporaries of the woolly mammoth have survived to the present day in the Arctic regions of North America. They have been reintroduced to parts of Siberia, and to Alaska, where they were hunted to extinction in the early 19th century.

The local Inuit peoples call the musk ox “oomingmak” and use the wool or qiviut, which is harvested when the musk oxen shed in spring, to knit warmwear. Qiviut is one of the finest natural fibers available and is highly valued for its light weight and density.

Oomingmak Co-Op of Qiviut Weavers

This National Geographic video shows a herd of musk oxen in an encounter with a pack of Arctic wolves.

This documentary was released in 2006 and it’s been an annual hit for PBS’s holiday programming ever since. The cinematography is breathtaking – and especially thrilling for anyone who lives in a region where a white Christmas is not all that likely. For me, the best part for me is the wildlife. The show follows several animal families, from bears to birds to bison, through the change of the seasons at the Yellowstone National Park. The story of the park’s wolf clans is especially riveting; they are such beautiful animals and in some instances I find their behavior almost human. Don’t miss the classic clip of the fox snow-diving for dinner – you can watch it (and other videos) on Nature’s website by clicking the screenshot above.

This shot makes a terrific desktop for widescreens!

“Abstract Art: A product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered.” (Albert Camus)

My latest portrait, Apache, 12×16 pastel on suede.

The portrait is based on a 1906 photograph by Edward Curtis entitled “Tsahizn Tseh.”

JESSICA CRABTREE NATIVE AMERICAN PORTRAITS & WILDLIFE: Apache

The Apache people, along with their close relatives the Navajo, call themselves “Dine,” meaning “the people.” These nations are part of an extended group of closely related nations and bands who once inhabited large areas of the Western Plains. When they reached the deserts of the Southwest in the 1500s, the Navajo gradually adopted a farming lifestyle similar to the region’s Pueblo peoples, while the Apache continued their traditional nomadic ways. Their fierce independence and their incredible knowledge of desert survival have made them legendary.

Persian Leopard
Photo credit: Public Domain (courtesy of Photos8.com)

December 10, 1909 – Death of Red Cloud

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the death of one of the Lakota nation’s most renowned leaders. Red Cloud, or Makhpiya-Luta as he was known in the Lakota language, spent many years leading the military resistance against American encroachment. He is perhaps most remembered for his involvement in the conflict known as Red Cloud’s War in the 1860′s. In his later years, however, he took a controversial stand against armed resistance and instead advocated diplomacy as a means to obtain justice for his people and to ease their transition to reservation life. He fought relentlessly against fraudulent land deals and bureaucratic corruption. He died on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota at the age of 87.

“They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they kept only one; they promised to take our land, and they did.”

“I am poor and naked, but I am the chief of the nation. We do not want riches but we do want to train our children right. Riches would do us no good. We could not take them with us to the other world. We do not want riches. We want peace and love.”

Wikipedia: Red Cloud

Profile of Red Cloud on PBS: The West

Here’s my latest finished project, Crow, 24×30 pastel on suede. The portrait is based on Edward Curtis’ 1908 photograph, “Red Wing.” He’ll be added to my Gallery shortly.

JESSICA CRABTREE NATIVE AMERICAN PORTRAITS & WILDLIFE: Crow

The traditional name used by the people of the Crow nation is “Apsaalooke” meaning “people of the great bird” or eagle. Through mistranslation, however, the name of this bird has come down to us as “crow” instead.

The Crow were an integral part of the quintessential Plains Indian culture. Their homeland includes the Yellowstone Valley in what is today Montana and Wyoming. After the arrival of the horse to the region in the early 1700s, the Crow adopted a nomadic lifestyle, following migrating bison and other game through large swaths of the Northern Plains. They maintained trade networks reaching as far as the Pacific.

The Crow were renowned for their prowess in battle against other Plains Indians such as the Lakota. In a practice known as counting coup, a warrior gained prestige by sparing the life of a defeated opponent. During the westward expansion of the United States in the 1800s, many Crow – including the one portrayed in this painting – served as scouts for the U.S. Army in campaigns against their traditional enemies.