Treaty Signing at Medicine Creek

In the 1860’s, there was a peace treaty signing at Medicine Creek Lodge between the United States government and the Cheyenne, Arapahoe, Kiowa, and Comanche peoples. This scene was depicted by two artists. First was John Taylor, a journalist who was hired to portray the scene. Ten years later Howling Wolf, the son of the Cheyenne peoples Chief, depicted the scene while he was incarcerated.

Though each drawing is portraying the same event, they are remarkably different. John Taylor’s illustration is a true representation of the scene, while Howling Wolf’s image is more abstract. First the two artists used different mediums. Taylor’s image is black and white and done completely in pencil whereas Wolf’s illustration was done in pencil, crayon and ink making it colorful. Taylor’s image draws the viewer’s attention to the center of the drawing where the signing of the treaty is taking place. Wolf’s image has no central line to follow and instead of just showing the signing of the treaty, his image includes the river, tepees, and a horse. Wolf’s image also contains numerous women, where Taylors does not depict one woman. Lastly, the most noticeable difference is in the way the Native American’s are portrayed within the two drawings. In Taylor’s image, the Native Americans are almost identical looking, and somewhat shadowed out, where each is represented individually in Wolf’s creation by way of different decoration and dress.

Ethnocentricity is outlined in each of these drawings. it is evident through his drawing that Taylor did not see the Native Americans as individuals, even though he was representing members that came from four different tribes, they each looked the same. Another conclusion that can be drawn from the juxtaposition of the two works is the role of women to each culture. There are numerous women represented in Wolf’s image, which leads us to believe that women were a central part of his culture, so much so that women make up the majority of the Native Americans included in his drawing. The absence of women altogether in Taylor’s image, confirms the role of women in America in the 1800’s society as just that, having no role.

Each drawing is interesting to me and I like them equally. Though they are supposed to represent an identical moment in time it is fascinating to see the differences between the drawings as perceived by each culture.
John Taylor http://www4.uwm.edu/letsci/mls/syllabi/702/702-1b.cfm
Howling Wolf http://www4.uwm.edu/letsci/mls/syllabi/702/702-1c.cfm