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Dog Soldier, " The sacred way of the sash wearer"
Patrick A Zabel
to receive their most current artwork
Size
3d freestanding sculpture. !8" x 24" x12"
Date Listed
July, 1st 2013
Original
Yes
Price
$6650.00
AVAILABLE
DESCRIPTION
The Cheyenne " Dog Soldier " and a Pawnee " wolf man " in a coup and combat situation. This piece Is based on historical facts and a specific time in history, Battle of Summit Spgs. N.W. Colorado, 1869. The Cheyenne dog soldier is a " Sash Wearer " in the dog soldier band. His name is , Wolf with Plenty Hair. I have studied this in detail and for numerous years and through Native American acquaintances. As a Sash Wearer in the dog soldiers society of the Cheyenne nation, Wolf with Plenty Hair was a venerated warrior and chosen as a sash wearer by the dog soldiers themselves. The sash wearer was one who was committed to "stake " himself in a crucial battle to protect his people and draw the heat of battle to him. Dismounting and pinning the sash or "dog rope" to the ground , declaring his intention to fight to the death.The Pawnee, or " wolf men " , as the Cheyenne called them, is not an actual warrior but one of my own imagination. The Pawnee were scouts for the U.S. Cavalry and in this scenario I depicted what I believe to be accurate as the Pawnee dressed themselves for coup and combat before this fight at Summit spgs.On July 11, 1869, at Summit Spgs, Colo. Death came to Wolf with Plenty Hair as well as numerous others of the dog soldiers, including Tall Bull the leader of the dog soldiers at that time. On that day Major Eugene A Carr led the 5th Cavalry and 150 Pawnee scouts in an attack on Tall Bull's village. At the head of the charge, stripped for battle, were the dog soldiers greatest enemies- the Pawnee. When the fight ended, the army counted fifty two warriors dead. Among them were Tall Bull, and next to him, "staked " to the dog rope, was Wolf with Plenty Hair.I started studying this back in 1985. When I was able to put it all together this actual account moved me deeply> the actual accounts in the Dog Soldier ledger book, pictoralized by the Dog Soldiers themselves, can be seen through the book printed by the Colorado Historical Society and the University Press of Colorado, c 1997. "Cheyenne Dog Soldiers: a ledgerbook history of coup and combat/ Jean Afton, David Fridtjof Halaas, Andrew Masich with Richard N. Ellis