As one of America's most prominent nineteenth-century painters, Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) is justly renowned for his majestic paintings of the western landscape. Yet Bierstadt was also a painter of history, and his figural works, replete with images of Plains Indians and the American bison, are an important part of his legacy as well. This splendid full-color volume highlights his achievements in chronicling a rapidly changing American West. Born in Germany, Bierstadt rose to prominence as an American artist in the late 1850s and enjoyed nearly two decades of critical success. His paintings propelled him to the forefront of the American art scene, but they also met with reproach from his peers and critics in the press who viewed his painting style as outmoded. Bierstadt's star has both risen and fallen as modern art historians have reconsidered his complex oeuvre. This volume takes a major step in reappraising Bierstadt's contributions by reexamining the artist through a new lens. It shows how Bierstadt conveyed moral messages through his paintings, often to preserve the dignity of Native peoples and call attention to the tragic slaughter of the American bison. More broadly, the book reconsiders the artist's engagement with contemporary political and social debates surrounding wildlife conservation in America, the creation and perpetuation of national parks, and the prospects for the West's indigenous peoples. Bierstadt's final history paintings, including his dual masterworks titled The Last of the Buffalo - a special focus of this volume - stand out as elegiac odes to an earlier era, giving voice to concerns about the intertwined fates of Native peoples and endangered wildlife, especially bison. Along with its rich sampling of Bierstadt's diverse artwork, Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West features informative essays by noted curators, scholars of art history, and historians of the American West.

Over the course of his career, artist Paul Dyck (1917-2006) assembled more than 2,000 nineteenth-century artworks created by the buffalo-hunting peoples of the Great Plains. Only with its acquisition by the Plains Indian Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West has this legendary collection become available to the general public. Plains Indian Buffalo Cultures allows readers, for the first time, to experience the artistry and diversity of the Paul Dyck Collection - and the cultures it represents. Richly illustrated with more than 160 color photographs and historical images, this book showcases a wide array of masterworks created by members of the Crow, Pawnee, Lakota, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Shoshone, Hidatsa, Mandan, Arikara, Dakota, Kiowa, Comanche, Blackfoot, Otoe, Nez Perce, and other Native groups. Author Emma I. Hansen provides an overview of Dyck's collection, analyzing its representations of Native life and heritage alongside the artist-collector's desire to assemble the finest examples of nineteenth-century Plains Indian arts available to him. His collection invites discussion of Great Plains warrior traditions, women's artistry, symbols of leadership, and ceremonial arts and their enduring cultural importance for Native communities. A foreword by Arthur Amiotte provides further context regarding the collection's inception and its significance for present-day Native scholars. From hide clothing, bear claw necklaces, and shields to buffalo robes, tipis, and decorative equipment made for prized horses, the artworks in the Paul Dyck Collection provide a firsthand glimpse into the traditions, adaptations, and innovations of Great Plains Indian cultures.

Individuals of all persuasions have become deeply interested in contemporary Sioux religious practices. These essays by tribal religious leaders, scholars, and other members of the Sioux communities in North and South Dakota deal with the more important questions about Sioux ritual and belief in relation to history, tradition, and the mainstream of American life.

Contents:

(1) "Lakota Belief and Ritual in the Nineteenth Century," by Raymond J. DeMallie;

(2) "Lakota Genesis: The Oral Tradition," by Elaine A. Jahner;

(3) "The Sacred Pipe in Modern Life," by Arval Looking Horse;

(4) "The Lakota Sun Dance: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives," by Arthur Amiotte;

(5) "The Establishment of Christianity Among the Sioux," by Vine V. Deloria, Sr.;

(6) "Catholic Mission and the Sioux: A Crisis in the Early Paradigm," by Harvey Markowitz;

(7) "Contemporary Catholic Mission Work Among the Sioux," by Robert Hilbert, S.}.;

(8) "Christian Life Fellowship Church," by Mercy Poor Man;

(9) "Indian Women and the Renaissance of Traditional Religion," by Beatrice Medicine;

(10) "The Contemporary "Yuwipi," "by Thomas H. Lewis, M.D.;

(11) "The Native American Church of Jesus Christ," by Emerson Spider, Sr.;

(12) "Traditional Lakota Religion in Modern Life," by Robert Stead, with an Introduction by Kenneth Oliver; Suggestions for Further Reading; Bibliography.

Over the course of his career, artist Paul Dyck (1917-2006) assembled more than 2,000 nineteenth-century artworks created by the buffalo-hunting peoples of the Great Plains. Only with its acquisition by the Plains Indian Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West has this legendary collection become available to the general public. Plains Indian Buffalo Cultures allows readers, for the first time, to experience the artistry and diversity of the Paul Dyck Collection - and the cultures it represents. Richly illustrated with more than 160 color photographs and historical images, this book showcases a wide array of masterworks created by members of the Crow, Pawnee, Lakota, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Shoshone, Hidatsa, Mandan, Arikara, Dakota, Kiowa, Comanche, Blackfoot, Otoe, Nez Perce, and other Native groups. Author Emma I. Hansen provides an overview of Dyck's collection, analyzing its representations of Native life and heritage alongside the artist-collector's desire to assemble the finest examples of nineteenth-century Plains Indian arts available to him. His collection invites discussion of Great Plains warrior traditions, women's artistry, symbols of leadership, and ceremonial arts and their enduring cultural importance for Native communities. A foreword by Arthur Amiotte provides further context regarding the collection's inception and its significance for present-day Native scholars. From hide clothing, bear claw necklaces, and shields to buffalo robes, tipis, and decorative equipment made for prized horses, the artworks in the Paul Dyck Collection provide a firsthand glimpse into the traditions, adaptations, and innovations of Great Plains Indian cultures.