Shelly Pearson
Art/101
March 24, 2011
Sara Shreve
Visual Literacy Although Howling Wolf’s drawing is seen as naively executed by the standards of Western art, why do we conclude that his record of the treaty signing event is more honest than the illustration rendered by the other artist?
In the presentation of the Howling Wolf’s Treaty Signing at Medicine Creek Lodge the drawing by Howling Wolf had the “Medicine Lodge Creek” whereas the John Taylor’s drawing didn’t. The Howling Wolf drawing had distinctly had native women in his drawing, and the native women were also were betrayed in the drawing with their backs turn from the others as they focused on the signing. The women’s hair was braided with red paint in the middle of their hair to show they were taken, or married. In the Taylor’s drawing has only protruded one woman in the picture who was known as Mrs. Margaret Adams an interpreter for the Arapaho. Howling wolf’s drawing of the women was full bodied and he carefully placed the figures in ink. I think Howling Wolf’s drawing is more honest because it came from him, and also witness the treaty. If other artist is going to draw other artist drawings they should betray all the people in the drawing in there drawing so it would be real and not fake. Why did the White artist ignore the many native women who were present at the treaty signing? Do you think this omission was deliberate or unintentional due to cultural bias? The white artist ignored the women present at the treaty signing because the native women played an important big roll inside their culture. The painting included the native women in ceremonial garments, and their backs against the other people in the audience. The whites didn’t want to draw attention to the importance the women played in the treaty signing. When the treaty was signed the Plain tribe’s children had to go to school to learn how to speak English and I think the white artist did it deliberately