Snapshots of the Past

[Sun dance pledgers--Cheyenne] – Historic Print

[Sun dance pledgers--Cheyenne], c1910. — historic photograph
[Sun dance pledgers--Cheyenne], c1910.. Historic photograph from the Historic Print Archive collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

[Sun dance pledgers--Cheyenne] comes to life in this historic photograph, reproduced from the original with every detail intact. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

Framed, it is ready for the wall; unframed, it is ready for the frame you choose. A fine choice for anyone who loves history, and a gift that gets noticed. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

[Sun dance pledgers--Cheyenne]

Order a print

Secure checkout · SSL encryptedPowered by Stripe and PayPal

Free shipping in the lower 48 states. The checkout page shows the picture, size and price before you pay.

Sign up for our newsletter

Sent securely. No purchase needed. Unsubscribe anytime.

Ask about licensing or this print

Men who had made a vow to take part in the Sun Dance are gathered here in Cheyenne dress, a group portrait that Edward S. Curtis made around 1910 for his multivolume study *The North American Indian*. The Sun Dance was among the most important ceremonies of the Plains peoples, and pledgers committed to it for reasons of healing, thanksgiving, or fulfilling a promise. By the early 1910s federal agents had long discouraged the dance, so such gatherings were often held quietly, and Curtis's pictures preserve a record of how the ceremony and its participants appeared at that time.

Created / publishedc1910.
Medium1 photographic print.
GenreGroup portraits 1910.Book illustrations 1910.Portrait photographs 1910.Photographic prints 1910.
NotesJ150280 U.S. Copyright Office. Edward S. Curtis Collection. Curtis no. 3250-10. Published in: The North American Indian / Edward S. Curtis. [Seattle, Wash.] : Edward S. Curtis, 1907-30, v. 6, p. 88.
SubjectsIndians of North America--Clothing & dress--1910. Cheyenne Indians--Clothing & dress--1910. Indians of North America--Spiritual life--1910. Cheyenne Indians--Spiritual life--1910. Sun dance--1910.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan3,281 × 4,096 px · prints to 11 × 14 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-182971

More from the Historic Print Archive collection

Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.

Related pictures

Hopi (Moqui) Indians. Snake danceHopi (Moqui) Indians. Snake dance[Chief Turtle giving his interpretation of the Indians' storm dance, just before the rain came down in torrents, at the Indian celebration in Two Medicine Valley, Glacier National Park, Montana][Chief Turtle giving his interpretation of the Indians' storm dance, just beforeState Capitol, Cheyenne, WyomingState Capitol, Cheyenne, WyomingThe Ghost dance of the Sioux IndiansThe Ghost dance of the Sioux Indians[View of a Cheyenne village at Big Timbers, in present-day Colorado, with four large tipis standing at the edge of a wooded area. Frame with pemmican or hides hanging at the right; two figures, facing camera, standing to the left of center][View of a Cheyenne village at Big Timbers, in present-day Colorado, with four lThe Ghost dance by the Ogallala [sic] Sioux at Pine Ridge Agency ... Dakota / Frederic Remington, Pine Ridge, S. Dak.The Ghost dance by the Ogallala [sic] Sioux at Pine Ridge Agency ... Dakota / Fr