Le décor est planté . C’est la Nature avec une majuscule, symbolisée par la forêt dense qui se dresse opaque sur la toile de fond avec un arbre à l’avant-plan; du foin a été jeté au sol pour sursignifier l’appartenance de deux hommes à cet univers sauvage.
Le portraitiste a déterminé que le regard des modèles doit porter vers un point qui se situe loin derrière celui qui contemple la photo. Cela crée un double sentiment d’étrangeté. D’abord, on s’attendrait à ce que, dans ce portrait de studio, le sujet photographié regarde vers l’objectif comme c’est généralement la norme. Ainsi, des générations d’ancêtres nous regardent-ils au même titre que nous les regardons quand nous sommes placés en face de photographies anciennes. Ici, les yeux nous évitent pour aller se fixer à droite derrière nous dans un hors champ qui nous est inatteignable. Ensuite, nonobstant l’abstraction voulue de la thématique forestière, il est immanquable que le spectateur soit déstabilisé par l’évocation d’une ligne d’horizon lointaine, ce qui est le propre des déserts (ou de la mer) mais certainement pas typique des régions boisées. Par contre, si nous imaginons les deux personnages comme étant sur une scène, l’attitude redevient « naturelle»; se découpant sur l’arrière-scène constituée d’une toile peinte, les comédiens regardent vers un imaginaire lointain au bénéfice du parterre qui se fait complice de l’artifice dramatique.
Nulle volonté de réalisme donc dans cette installation évoquant le milieu naturel auquel appartiennent les sujets de la photographie, au moyen d’une forêt nordique esquissée en lieu et place des paysages de l’Ouest américain; nous sommes donc dans une représentation conceptuelle où la théâtralité du lieu et l’abstraction de la proposition artistique sont pleinement assumées. Ce flottement entre l’évocation des grands espaces ouverts et la réalité d’un lieu clos semble trouver son parallèle dans les attitudes contradictoires des protagonistes où l’un joue le jeu, l’autre pas.
Le « cow-boy » prend bien volontiers la pose, qu’il exagère même un tantinet. Scout de l’armée ou chasseur de bisons, le pas qu’il esquisse ici est bien plus celui d’un danseur ou d’un jongleur. Le regard est fièrement levé vers le lointain où il se porte. Cependant la coquetterie de la gestuelle nous laisse entendre que la pensée du modèle est d’abord occupée par le souci de bien faire. Celui-ci s’efforce jusqu’à l’affèterie à se montrer à la hauteur du personnage de légende qu’il est devenu.
L’Indien, lui, s’il accepte d’avoir un œil dans l’alignement indiqué, offre au contraire une attitude d’immobilité qui contredit le dynamisme de l’ensemble. Ce corps détendu, comme au repos dans un équilibre naturel sur ses jambes droites, obéit pourtant lui aussi à un ressort interne qui commande cette posture de repli. En effet, le serrement des lèvres, habituel si l’on en juge par les rides qu’il a creusées de chaque côté de la bouche, révèle une crispation que l’attitude corporelle n’avoue pas. Et que dire de ces deux yeux intenses qui trouvent le moyen de signifier qu’ils ne regardent pas là où on leur a dit de regarder, au point focal vers lequel ils n’en feignent pas moins de tendre? Leurs pensées, on peut les supposer en s’aidant des informations historiques dont nous disposons.
William Cody devenu Buffalo Bill, légende de la conquête de l’Ouest grâce à une série de romans populaires (dime novels), voit enfin le Wild West Show, qu’il a inauguré trois ans plutôt, connaître le succès. Ici, au studio Notman, photographe des notables et des célébrités, il est pour ainsi dire chez lui. Il se félicite d’avoir pu obtenir, du chef lakota qu’il est allé lui-même solliciter à Pine Ridge et des autorités fédérales américaines, très réticentes à la chose, que Sitting Bull, le plus célèbre des Amérindiens, puisse participer à la tournée de 1885. Il est content de l’accueil des Montréalais qui ont applaudi Sitting Bull dans son tour de piste (alors que les huées ont fusé lors des premières représentations en sol américain). Il est bien informé de la récente bataille de Batoche (la publicité du spectacle annonce une reconstitution de combats «semblables à ceux de Fish Creek, de Cut Knive et de Batoche») et de son issue; Riel vient d’être condamné à mort, on ne parle que de cela à Montréal, où même l’épidémie de variole qui y sévit ne trouve pas à tempérer l’ardeur des manifestants qui se réunissent en grand nombre pour protester contre le verdict. Enfin, Cody doit aussi se préparer à accueillir sous sa tente plusieurs dignitaires de Montréal et préparer un mot de bienvenue qui soit diplomatique pour ses invités.
D’autre part, Sitting Bull, dans sa farouche intériorité, ne manque pas d’événements historiques ou d’anecdotes personnelles qui se mêlent aux premiers, à se remémorer. Songe-t-il à la fameuse bataille de Little Big Horn, qu’il avait prophétisée, où tout un régiment de la 7e cavalerie a péri sous les coups des troupes amérindiennes qu’il avait levées? À son séjour au Canada où il s’était réfugié par la suite? À la prison de Fort Randall où il a été détenu après sa reddition en dépit des ententes qui avaient été conclues? À l’avenir de son peuple qui, vaincu par les armes, cherche à s’adapter à sa nouvelle situation de minoritaire? Aux bisons qu’il a vus courir par milliers et qui sont maintenant une espèce en voie de disparition?
Il y a enfin la Winchester, arme aussi mythique que les deux hommes qui la tiennent ici entre eux. Maintenant inoffensive, elle a ostensiblement pour fonction d’évoquer la paix qui fait suite à la guerre. Mais, ainsi mollement tenue, l’arme à feu prend un côté dérisoire; une lecture freudienne parlerait d’impuissance éjaculatoire et de castration, c’est-à-dire de la mort. Et la figure de ces deux hommes dans leurs habits d’apparat surannés, figés dans un décor qui pourrait bien être celui d’un salon funéraire, c’est bien de mort qu’elle nous parle; avec le souvenir d’une époque révolue qui s’offre en spectacle historico-circassien dans la splendeur crépusculaire de la tragédie, cérémonial incantatoire capable de ramener à la vie, l’espace d’une représentation, les morts des batailles d’avant-hier.
L’embaumement constitue un fait fondamental de la genèse des arts plastiques, écrivait Bazin; mais, selon lui, l’évolution aurait dégagé l’art de ses fonctions magiques. À voir. Ici la photographie se fait visiblement monument funéraire et, malgré la verticalité de la pose, c’est bien à un gisant que l’on songe. Cela dit, derrière le masque funéraire, c’est là sa «fonction magique», les morts ont la vie dure.
Buffalo Bill n’est-il pas ici un Custer de substitution qui se place en vis-vis aux côtés du général amérindien qui a présidé à la défaite de celui-là ? Le Wild West Show a d’ailleurs commencé par un numéro intitulé «un scalp pour Custer» dans lequel Buffalo Bill rejoue un duel au couteau où il vainc un chef nommé Yellow Hair. Nous sommes en plein rituel amérindien de permutation où la force du scalp comme maison de l’âme permet au vainqueur de s’incorporer les qualités du défunt. Notons aussi, puisque nous sommes au chapitre des pilosités et de leur fonction métempsycosique, que Buffalo Bill arbore la chevelure longue et hirsute, la moustache et la barbiche de feu le général Custer.
Et à ses flans, le chef lakota dont l’irréductible intériorité continue à narguer le conquérant (et le photographe) se présente lui-même comme égal et équivalent au général Custer, vénéré comme un héros de guerre par l’opinion étatsunienne. Sitting Bull qui, dans son superbe quant à soi, signifie aux générations futures qu’il n’a jamais abdiqué sa souveraineté et que la reddition ne peut être autre chose qu’une concession temporaire. Sa posture sur la photographie parvient à faire de celle-ci une riposte visuelle à l’iconique Custer’s Last Stand. En effet, le baroud d’honneur de Custer, figuration stylisée des derniers moments du général à Little Big Horn, objet de nombreuses gravures d’époque, illustre une horde barbare et sanguinaire tournant comme des fauves autour d’un îlot de résistance de l’armée américaine. Mais ici, dans la photographie qui va aussi à son tour devenir une icône de la culture populaire américaine, le combattant amérindien se donne comme un fier combattant capable de résister avec bravoure aux assauts du conquérant.
Sitting Bull a-t-il pu déjà entrevoir la société de l’image qui s’amorce alors? On sait par exemple, qu’il a négocié que lui seul était autorisé à vendre des photos de sa personne sur le site du Wild West Show (cela lui aurait rapporté encore plus d’argent que ses cachets qui étaient pourtant importants). Cette clause à son contrat démontre qu’il était loin d’être un naïf ou une victime. Au studio Notman de Montréal en août 1885, une photo historique est tirée. C’est déjà la rencontre d’une mythologie (de l’Ouest) avec une technologie (celle de la reproduction mécanique), caractéristique du western selon le mot de Bazin (encore lui), qui se produit, neuf ans avant que d’autres Indiens du Wild West Show soient captés par les appareils de vues animées de Thomas Edison à West Orange et 13 ans avant que Veyre tourne, avec le cinématographe Lumière, Danse indienne à Kahnawake. Un nouveau combat s’est engagé, pour l’image et dans l’image. Sitting Bull peut maintenant se retirer. Il a remporté le premier engagement de cette nouvelle phase de la guerre. À d’autres maintenant de poursuivre le combat.
Part of this “winning of the West” or conquest narrative also involved the construction of Native peoples as a vanishing race. But the Indian Wars were now over, and Native peoples had not vanished. A modification in discourse from the “savage and vanishing Indian” to the “civilized and tamed Indian” was hence necessary to maintain the story of a successful conquest. This modification in discourse is clearly linked to contemporary debates about the “Indian problem,” which considered the place of Indians in modern America. 18 The conquest narrative, therefore, also entailed discourses of friendship and peace, which supported the fact that Native peoples were no longer a threat, that is, no longer a foe. The foe-to-friend discourse found in newspaper reports and other media related to the Wild West show signaled to the public the successful civilizing of Native peoples, as well as their changing relationship with the white settler community.
Among the earliest representations of the foe-to-friend discourse in relation to Wild West shows are the photographs of Sitting Bull and “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Sitting Bull’s role in the 1885 season tour of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show was that of a famous warrior, promoted as “the killer of Custer.” While the show was in Montreal, Quebec, William Notman, a successful and well-known photographer, took a series of studio photographs that have been widely copied and reprinted in various forms. Some of the pictures of Cody and Sitting Bull feature them standing side by side as “heroes of the Wild West.” In one photograph, Sitting Bull is dressed in a fringed leather shirt, dark trousers, and a full-length Plains headdress, with an embellished sash and bag, and wear- ing a stoic, reserved expression; Cody wears riding pants, tall boots, a Stetson hat, and an embroidered shirt. It is likely Notman had knowl- edge of his subjects and insisted (or agreed) that Sitting Bull and Cody wear their richly decorated performance regalia, which were visual symbols of the archetypical Plains Indian and the frontiersman, respectively. Facing each other, they both clasp the rifle in front of them with one hand and shake hands in friendship with the other, equally heroes of the West (see fig. 1). Their equal status—as both heroes and representatives of the West—is accentuated by the symmetrically balanced composition of the photograph. Significantly, the caption on a souvenir photograph based on this series reads “Enemies in ’76, Friends in ’85.” The photograph of the two men was also reproduced for the 1893 show program with a slightly altered caption: “Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill—Foes in 76—Friends in 85.”
In many of the other Sitting Bull–Cody photographs, they both gaze out into the distance rather than face each other, perhaps looking forward toward the future. The fact that Cody’s face is well lit whereas Sitting Bull’s is dark may have been an intentional representation of their future outlooks by Notman. Moreover, while Cody’s gaze is optimistic, Sitting Bull’s expression is reserved and unreadable, almost unin- terested. To a certain degree, Sitting Bull’s expression is typical for the time period. His pose and stoic expression are consistent with popu- lar imagery of the time, maintaining the public’s romantic ideals of Na- tive peoples as noble savages. Furthermore, Native men were normally painted and photographed looking away from the camera or gazing into the distance. In one of Sitting Bull’s portraits, however, he stares directly and sternly into the camera, gazing back at the photographer (see fig. 2). Here, without his iconic headdress, his firm gaze suggests an aura of determination, perhaps even confidence and intent. This image is reminiscent of photographs taken by Palmquist and Jurgens of St. Paul, Minnesota, during Sitting Bull’s 1884 tour with Alvaren Allen and James McLaughlin. Significantly, Sitting Bull sold his photographs as souvenirs during this tour.
It is possible to decipher the probable intent and meanings of the Sitting Bull–Cody series of photographs for the multiple parties involved. For Notman, producing images that conformed to the public’s expectations of Indians was essential—that of the noble savage, both a warrior and a friend—as these photographs were likely produced to be sold as souvenirs. This particular genre of photography was familiar to Notman, who also took photographs of Canada to be sold as souvenirs, for example, his series of hunting scenes. For Cody, these photographs were promotional tools that encapsulated the main theme of the show: the winning of the West. The depiction of victory and friendship in the photographs further supported this theme. Moreover, Cody capitalized on Sitting Bull’s fame and reputation as a stoic warrior in advertisements and promotional events in order to create excitement around the show and draw in the crowds. (It is no coincidence that when Sitting Bull joined the cast in 1885, the show achieved new levels of success.) Sitting Bull himself welcomed the public and press alike at barbecues and events organized for publicity purposes. However, Sitting Bull was not a pawn; he was a savvy businessman who consciously used his status as a noble warrior. Not only did he negotiate his contract with Cody to include an exceptional salary for his stoic appearances in the Wild West show, he also insisted on exclusive rights to sell his autograph and photographs of himself. It is likely that Sitting Bull had run out of souvenir photographs or cabinet cards from his 1884 tour and willingly posed for Notman to replenish his stock. Sitting Bull’s aura of confidence in the aforementioned portrait, therefore, possibly reflects his intent and business sense when it came to marketing his persona. Perhaps Sitting Bull was not as concerned as Notman or Cody about constructing a particular image that resonated with the general public, so long as that image was of himself, an image he knew could be sold to the public.
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Although Sitting Bull only performed in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show for one season, he was often featured in newspaper reports; these rare interviews provide some valuable insight on Native perspectives. For the most part, Sitting Bull had positive things to say about whites and spoke of friendship in interviews with the press.
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And yet, Sitting Bull was not always received kindly. But while American audiences booed him, most likely because of his role in the 1876 Battle of the Little Big Horn, audiences in Canada cheered him. This may have to do with the fact that Cody attempted to explain the Indian side of the story to Toronto newspapers and that Canadians viewed Sitting Bull not only as the “star’ of the show but also as a statesman. Furthermore, Sitting Bull, along with other Sioux from Standing Rock, took refuge in Saskatchewan after the battle. Therefore, one can understand Sitting Bull’s comments of friendship in the Canadian context.
The large number of high-ranking military men among Cody’s supporters can easily be accounted for: after all, the propagation of myths served their interest better than critical reports on the staggering expense and doubtful benefit of the Indian wars. Cody’s fame in the East thus contributed to his career in the West. In between his performances in the cities Buffalo Bill hurried to the Indian frontier as noble scout to legitimate his role continually anew and to perpetuate the legend once begun. In the meantime, the military confrontation with the indigenous peoples was approaching its climax and end. The battle of the Little Big Horn, in which in June 1876 the 7th Cavalry under General George Armstrong Custer was virtually rubbed out by the joint Lakota and Cheyenne forces under Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, was the last attempt of the Natives to ward off the Whites by force of arms. It made Custer, whose own arrogance greatly contributed to his end, a folk hero and caused the army to arrange for a quick solution of the Indian problem. Buffalo Bill, as chief of scouts of the 5th Cavalry, was not himself involved in the battle but still did not return fameless from this summer’s campaign. Shortly after Custer’s defeat, during an operation against a group of Cheyennes, he succeeded in taking the scalp of the Cheyenne chief Yellow Hand—“the first scalp for Custer,” as he had it announced in the press. That Yellow Hand’s name really was Yellow Hair, that he was not an important chief, and that the scalp was not taken at the end of a heroic single combat made no difference.12 The public in this case, too, preferred the myth to the reality.
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As the victor of the battle of the Little Big Horn, Sitting Bull possessed more authority in the eyes of the Whites (and in recent times also of “the Indians”) than any other Native person; it is easy to understand that his testimony was universally sought. In 1885 Buffalo Bill’s p.r. man John Burke had succeeded in hiring the hesitating Hunkpapa medicine man (who had already been on tour in the White cities two years before) for the “Wild West” Show,— with the promise, by the way, that the sure-shot Ann Oakley (“Annie, Get Your Gun”) would be one of the party. Besides a weekly pay of 50 dollars Sitting Bull was granted at his request the right to sell his photographic portrait on his own account. For Buffalo Bill he was a much more valuable asset. Although Sitting Bull was only employed with “Wild West” for this one season, his portrait continued to decorate the posters, which Colonel Cody used in 1887 to propagate his show in London. Even years later, David Notmann’s double portrait of the standard-bearers of the white and red races appeared in Buffalo Bill’s program under the title “Enemies in 1876, friends in 1885.”16
At the same time that the full-length figure standing at the left side of the Enquirer poster approximates the role of Buffalo Bill as chief of the Wild West, if not his exact presentation, it also represents the many Indians who received marquee billing with the exhibition and were recognized leaders of their own tribes. American Horse, Red Shirt, Red Cloud, Black Fox, Short Bull, Kicking Bear, Iron Tail, and the legendary Sitting Bull, among many others, achieved celebrity for their roles on the frontier and in the exhibition. They belonged to the esteemed coterie that this figure exemplifies. Sitting Bull, the Hunkpapa Lakota chief and survivor of the battle of Little Big Horn, left Standing Rock reservation to tour with the exhibition in 1885.80 He was the premier show Indian. His name appeared only slightly smaller than “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” in newspaper advertisements during the exhibition’s third season and his presence in the arena launched a preference for members of the Lakota tribe as the most highly sought after show Indians. Sitting Bull did not participate in the various mock attacks, but instead rode into the arena alone to be taunted as General Custer’s murderer or hailed as a respected statesman of a great Indian nation.81 Tatanka Iyotake’s single season with the Wild West during a time of considerable hostility between the Lakota people and the United States government, inaugurated an object lesson on the theme “Enemies in ’76, Friends in ’85.” This caption frequently accompanied the most widely distributed cabinet card from a series of eight made by William Notman and Sons of Montreal when the Wild West toured Canada. (Figure 2.28) The photograph featured Cody and Sitting Bull, both participants in the Black Hills War of 1876 and performers in the Wild West, standing side-by-side adorned in their finest performance attire.82 It was often reproduced in Wild West materials, including in the lower left corner of a pastiche poster published by A. Hoen and Company a decade later. (Figure 2.29) In the years to come, even as the Wild West restaged raids on the Deadwood stage coach, just-in-the-nick-of-time rescues of white captives, and Custer’s demise, this simultaneous vilification and expression of allegiance was persistent and broadly applied to characterize white-Indian relations.83
80 For Cody’s intricate negotiations with the Bureau of Indian Affairs for permission for Sitting Bull to travel with the Wild West, see John Polacsek, “The Marketing of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Shows,” Bandwagon 34, no. 2 (March/April 1990): 24; and Moses, Wild West Shows and the Images of American Indians, 27. Following his time with the Wild West during the 1885 season, the Bureau of Indian Affairs never allowed Sitting Bull to leave Standing Rock again. Delaney, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Warriors, 31.
81 Moses, “Interpreting the Wild West,”168–70; and Vine Deloria, Jr., “The Indians,” in Buffalo Bill and the Wild West (Brooklyn: The Brooklyn Museum, 1981), 51.
82 Cody was a scout for the Fifth Cavalry during 1876 and Sitting Bull was notorious for his participation in the Battle of Little Big Horn. See Louis Pfaller, “‘Enemies in ’76, Friends in ’85’—Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill,” Prologue 1, no. 2 (Fall 1969): 17–31. For an analysis of the set of cabinet cards created by William Notman and Sons, see Kasson, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, 178 –79.
Sitting Bull’s participation in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West offered a complex web of meanings for white spectators, ratifying their sense of superiority and triumph in the wars against the Plains Indians, but at the same time transmuting that life-and-death struggle into the realm of harmless entertainment and transforming old enemies into providers of pleasure and excitement. A remarkable series of photographs taken during the tour in Montreal by the photographer William Notman shows these meanings, and the images were deeply significant for both Sitting Bull and Cody in following years.
Eight different pictures show Cody and Sitting Bull standing before a painted backdrop in Notman’s studio. Both are elaborately dressed, Cody in thigh-high boots, a wide-buckled belt, an embroidered shirt, and a broadbrimmed hat, all of which he wore in other souvenir photographs produced around this time. Cody the consummate showman was clearly experienced at this. Sitting Bull’s elaborate clothing also seems to be a costume he is wearing for the occasion. We know from the accounts of reporters who interviewed him that his ordinary dress was more hybrid and Europeanized. “Over a figured calico shirt he wears a waistcoat of plush brocade,” wrote one Montreal reporter, “and his trousers are of blue broadcloth, with a wide welt standing out from the outer seams, bordered with fancy braid and dotted with brass buttons. His feet are remarkably small and well formed thrust in moccasins with india rubber soles.” Another reporter commented that “he usually dresses in a print shirt, black pants and beaded slippers. He wears a red or loud necktie, massive rings and sleeve links.”** In the Notman photograph, rings are visible on his hands and his trousers hang like broadcloth, but the fringed jacket, floor-length headdress, and beaded bag slung on a band across his chest are his stage clothing. He is an actor every bit as much as Cody.
In the photographs, the renowned Sioux leader and the struggling showman seem to meet as well-matched equals. The two figures divide the picture plane, separated by the vertical line of a rifle, barrel pointed upward, between them. In one pose, the two men look directly at each other across the gun; in another, they shake hands; and in a third pose Buffalo Bill stands slightly behind Sitting Bull, gazing with him off to the right.?? But the most widely distributed one, sometimes captioned “Enemies in '76, Friends in ’85,” places them in a pose that speaks volumes. Here the balance of power seems to tip toward Cody. Sitting Bull stands in three-quarters profile, his face impassive and his eyes in shadow as he looks off to the right, with one hand hidden in the fringes of his jacket and the other grasping the rifle lightly on the barrel. Cody stands more frontally, one hand resting at the top of the rifle barrel hovering a finger’s-breadth above Sitting Bull's, the other pointing toward the right of the picture as if directing the Sioux chief's gaze. Cody's face, below the broad-brimmed hat, is flooded with light, and his eyes are wide open, his gaze attentive and firm. While the photograph shows both men in a dignified light, Cody seems active and masterful, pointing the way to the acquiescent warrior. “Enemies in ’76” reminds viewers that Sitting Bull was widely regarded as a dangerous and powerful opponent. “Friends in ’85” suggests that Wild West viewers need have no fear of him. But the “friendship” offered in this photograph —and in Wild West performances— honored American Indian dignity only at the expense of surrender to white dominance and control.
Notman also produced several individual portraits of Sitting Bull. One, depicting the Sioux chief in the same costume in front of the same backdrop, shows him grasping the now-upraised rifle in both hands. Although his expression is still impassive, perhaps detached and resistant, its solemnity may have represented an assertion of dignity and power for Sitting Bull, who deeply resented the lack of respect with which he was treated by government and military leaders and Indian agents. While it is hard to know whether he could control the poses he assumed in the Notman portraits, he did later put the photograph to uses of his own. In 1890, Sitting Bull became friendly with a Brooklyn widow and educator named Catherine Weldon, who moved into his home with her young son and supported him financially. She served as his secretary, taught classes for the women of his household, and painted his portrait in oil. The painting, which was found in his cabin after his death (and was damaged in the struggle in which he was killed), was said to be a favorite possession, “the pride of his vanity,” according to the soldier who snatched it from the house.” Clearly, Weldon’s painting was based on the Notman photograph, suggesting both that Sitting Bull kept a copy of the photograph and that he valued it. An image of an image, the painting suggests Sitting Bull’s struggle for dignity and control in the years after his surrender.
Both Cody and Sitting Bull had reason to be pleased with the results of the 1885 season, and both wanted to repeat the experience the following year. However, Agent McLaughlin, perhaps aware that Cody had helped Sitting Bull make independent contact with government officials, had hardened in his attitude. He resented the Sioux chief’s generosity on the reservation, and feared that the money he had earned on his tour was enhancing his power in the tribe. In McLaughlin’s view, Sitting Bull was “a consummate liar and too vain and obstinate to be benefited by what he sees.”*!
In some ways, Sitting Bull’s successful tour with Buffalo Bill became a liability. His ability to assert some control over the fruits of his celebrity (distributing his earnings according to the Sioux custom of gift-giving) and his efforts to establish independent channels of communication with government officials provoked McLaughlin to see him as a symbol of continuing, incorrigible resistance. In fact, it could be argued that Sitting Bull’s fame, enhanced by his appearances with Buffalo Bill, contributed to his death five years later.
William Notman & Son, Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill, Montreal, 1885, silver salts on glass, gelatin dry plate process, 17 x 12 cm, McCord Museum.
Notman’s studio grew through the 1860s and beyond, so much so that it is difficult to establish which of the photographs were taken by Notman himself. It is reasonable to assume that when celebrities came to the studio, Notman would have been involved in the session, if not operating the camera, then in a directorial position. In 1885 Buffalo Bill’s Wild West made a stop in Montreal. This was a circus-type show that debuted in 1883 and toured consistently for almost thirty years in North America and Europe. The performers included Sitting Bull, a famed Lakota Sioux holy man and Indian rights activist. Like most celebrities visiting Montreal, Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull included a session at Notman’s studio, probably at Notman’s invitation.
The utterly simple format of this image was rather unusual for Notman. His studio portraits made full use of the props in his well-equipped studio rooms. A double portrait of Sitting Bull and William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody pictures them against a painted outdoor scene in full regalia with hands clasped one on top of the other over the barrel of a rifle. The effect is decidedly awkward. Buffalo Bill stands rigidly, right hand hovering at his chest and left foot stepping out, and gazes off to the left of the camera. Sitting Bull makes none of these active, almost preening, motions. He is turned slightly toward Bill and gazes downward.
Pictured on his own, Sitting Bull cuts a decidedly different figure. The solo portraits of Sitting Bull are all half-length and against a neutral backdrop. In several he is wearing a large headdress, which creates lyrical lines and textures in the finished print. By contrast this pared-down portrait is even more striking. This is the only pose in which he looks directly at the camera. Without the distractions of props, backdrop, or headdress, we are left to contemplate his calm, weathered face.
The format here is very similar to the one Edward Curtis (1868–1952) would later use for many of the portraits in his famous and controversial book The North American Indian, published in 1907. (This photograph was taken the same year the young Curtis became an apprentice in a photo studio in St. Paul, Minnesota.) It is tempting to read Sitting Bull’s emotional state in this image, to see pride, weariness, and resignation, but these are more likely to be our own projections. What Notman has captured is a visually and compellingly human image of his sitter, presumably a record of his own encounter with Sitting Bull in that moment.
Après ces événements, les réactions sont très vives aux États-Unis, et Sitting Bull et son clan trouvent alors refuge au Manitoba pendant 4 ans. Mais les conditions de vie y sont terriblement difficiles, et lui et 186 membres de son clan reviennent aux États-Unis et acceptent de vivre dans une réserve. Sitting Bull est très aimé au Canada, sa réputation de guerrier et son apparence digne en font même une vedette. En 1884, les autorités américaines acceptent qu’il parte en tournée avec le spectacle très populaire de Buffalo Bill, intitulé le Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.
Sitting Bull voyage alors partout en Amérique. Il est payé 15$ par semaine et demande 1$ pour les photographies. Il vient à Montréal en 1885, où il est une véritable vedette! D’ailleurs, une de ses photographies les plus célèbres a été prise dans le grand studio montréalais William Notman & Son. Ces photographies sont d’autant plus importantes puisqu’elles sont parmi les dernières prises du grand chef sioux.
En effet, ce dernier est assassiné le 15 décembre 1890 sur sa réserve de Standing Rock dans le Dakota du Sud, après un événement quelque peu confus qui a provoqué la peur des troupes américaines. Les photographies de William Nortman & Son ont figé son image de grand chef à tout jamais.
ting Bull had expressed a desire to join the Wild West. McLaughlin, the showman explained, approved the idea. Cody offered endorsements from Generals Philip Sheridan, Nelson A. Miles, George Crook, and Alfred Terry to strengthen his application. "Please answer;" he closed the tele-gram, "as bull [sic) is anxious to come at once." Secretary of tim Interior Lamar found the proposition unacceptable. He wrote on the telegram
"Make a very emphatic No" (underlining the word three times).18 Commissioner John D. C. Atkins told Cody of both his and the secretary's opposition. Indians should be engaged in civilized pursuits and not in "roving through the country exhibiting themselves and visiting places where they would naturally come in contact with evil associates and degrading immo-ralities." 19 Rebuffed again, Cody forwarded endorsements from General William T. Sherman and Colonel Eugene A. Carr (commander, Sixth Cav-alry) who expressed their confidence in the showman. In his own letter to the commissioner, Cody emphasized his long experience in "the management and care of Indians." He guaranteed that, once employed with the show, Sitting Bull would "receive the kindest treatment," 20 Secretary Lamar relented and, on May 18, wired Agent MeLaughlin that Sitting Bull and a few of his followers and family would be permitted to appear in Cody's Wild West show.21
Sitting Bull and the Hunkpapa Sioux joined the show in Buffalo, New York, on June 12. The 1885 season confirmed the success of Cody's Wild West both financially and artistically. Cody and company toured more than forty cities in the United States and Canada.? A part of the show's success is explained by the presence of Sitting Bull.
When performing, he wore his buckskin, paint, and feathers. In the parade of performers at the opening of the show, he wore a red tunic. When not in the arena, his usual dress included a plush brocade waist-coat, black flowered pants, a scarlet tie, a printed shirt with its tails hanging down outside his trousers, and beaded, rubber-soled moccasins. He adorned himself with jewelry and sometimes wore a crucifix, mostly because he liked its design. Introduced to the audiences simply as Sitting Bull, the famous Hunkpapa chief, he endured the taunts and boos of the crowd who associated him with Custer's death at the Little Bighorn. From all reports, he bore the insults impassively — or with greater dignity than those who screamed their insults. He made considerable money selling his photographs, perhaps gaining some measure of revenge upon the unfriendly crowds.?
4 : Sitting Bull ar Buffalo Bill, 1885. One in a series of cabinet photographs made by William Notman during the visit of Cody's Wild West to Montreal. The more famous pose from this series — at least the one that is most frequently reproduced—has Buffalo Bill pointing to an imaginary horizon with his right hand. Both he and Sitting Bull rest their left hands on the Hunkpapa holy man's Model 1873 Winchester. (Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming)
1 photographic print ; photo 14 x 9.8 cm, on mount 16.5 x 10.9 cm.
Photograph originally taken by William Notman studios, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, during Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, August 1885. Later copyrighted by D.F. Barry in June 1897.
parle pas de la photo en tant que telle, mais décrit le spectacle à Montréal, fait des parallèles avec Louis Riel
Admission was 50 cents (children, half-price).
The show opened Monday, Aug. 10. Every day through the following Saturday, people flocked to the Driving Park in Point St. Charles, not far from where the Club Price store now stands.
As people filed into the parks grandstand, they could see bison, elk and Indian ponies grazing on the infield grass.
The show consisted of troupes of Indians, Mexican vaqueros and Texas cowboys galloping past. There were rodeo tricks, as well as displays of marksmanship by 16-year-old Johnny Baker, little Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill Cody himself.
There were Indian attacks on the original Deadwood stage and on a settlers cabin. Cody, a former Indian fighter and U.S. army scout, took centre stage to re-enact his slaying of the Sioux chief Yellow Hand in 1876 to avenge Custer. The famous Cow Boy Band provided music.
And there was Sitting Bull himself, known to his own people as Ta-tanka I-yotank.
In summer 1885, he was about 49 years old. He didnt actually do much. For most of those attending the Wild West show, simply to gaze on his countenance seamed and wrinkled as becomes a chief upon whose head war and wrong have beaten for half a century, as a Gazette columnist known as Chips put it, was thrill enough.
Later, as I was well along that path, I came across another image that also captured my attention. It was taken for publicity purposes while Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill were on tour in Montreal, and its caption was "Foes in '76, Friends in '85." I began to imagine these two men on the road, Sitting Bull on that horse, criss-crossing the nation, visiting lands that once had belonged to the Lakota, appearing as "himself" on crowded thoroughfares that were built on top of ancient paths made by animals and the people who followed them, with William F. Cody, another mythical figure of the Great Plains, re-enacting wartime scenarios that had one outcome—the end of the red man and the victory of the white—leading the whole parade in a celebration of the Wild West that became the national scripture. What were the forces that brought these two men together, I wondered, and what was the nature of their alliance? Theirs was certainly an unlikely partnership, but one thing was obvious on its face. Both had names that were forever linked with the buffalo, and both led lives that were intertwined with that animal. One man was "credited" with wiping out the species (though that was hardly the case) and the other and his fellow Lakota were long sustained by it. They were, in effect, two sides of the same coin; foes and then friends, just like the photo caption said. Here were two American superstars, icons not just of their era and country, but for all time and around the world. What story was this picture telling and how was it connected to the dancing horse outside Sitting Bull's cabin?
La plus célèbre photo de la légende de l’Ouest, celle où l’on voit Buffalo Bill avec sa veste à franges en daim debout à côté du grand chef Sitting Bull a été prise à Montréal !
Sitting Bull was infamous for his involvement with the massacre of U.S. Cavalry troops at the Battle of Little Bighorn in the summer of 1876. He and his tribe then fled American soil for Canada for approximately four years, during which hardships plagued the group. With little food or resources, Sitting Bull eventually decided to make the trip back to his homelands, and surrendered to United States officials on July 20, 1881. As a prisoner of war, he would, for the rest of his life, be a ward of the American government. Sitting Bull was made to live and farm at the Standing Rock Agency, and report to Indian agent James McLaughlin. His efforts and that of his devoted Sioux could no longer prevent the advances of the U.S. military who sought final control of all the Indians’ western homelands. Although forced to remain on the reservation, Sitting Bull had established himself as a notable figure among Native Americans. Cody immediately recognized the possibilities for Sitting Bull’s celebrity stature.
Initially, the secretary of the interior was opposed to Sitting Bull joining Cody’s tour. But Cody and his general manager, John Burke, relentlessly pursued the contract for Sitting Bull’s services, finally arranging for Sitting Bull’s appearances in the show's parade and in the arena but not in the dramatic segments. His pay was set at $50 per week, with a bonus of $125. His interpreter, William Halsey, and five men and three women would also be allowed to travel with the show at smaller salaries. Sitting Bull also was granted the right to sell his portrait photographs and autographs during the tour. Once on opposite sides of war, Cody and Sitting Bull performed together for the one season. Huge crowds flocked to the performances. Ticket sales soared and Cody’s finances stabilized to ensure the future of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.*
Like all Indians with the troupe, Sitting Bull was exposed to the Euro-American lifestyle and culture while sharing tribal culture with audiences. Indians received thunderous applause and ovations for their appearances and participation in each program segment. Viewing the thrilling battles and painted warriors from the safety of their grandstand seats, visitors encountered, most for the first time, the skills and strength of the American Indians.‘°
The 1885 contract, while satisfying both Cody and Sitting Bull, would be the only one ever allowed. Sitting Bull’s status concerned the Bureau of Indian Affairs and agent McLaughlin. Sitting Bull was never again allowed to leave Standing Rock. His interest in the Ghost Dance movement of his people and religious missionaries led to his death in December 1890. Sitting Bull was shot by Indian police attempting to arrest him at his home.
Another historical event, the Battle of Little Big Horn, was both a pivotal moment during the so-called Indian Wars and a central performance in the Wild West show. The actual event was fought on June 25, 1876 and was perceived to be a victory by the Native Americans against General Custer and the Seventh Cavalry Regiment of the Unites States Army. The conflict began as a result of government pressure to push Lakota off the Black Hills in order to preserve miners’ interests from the Lakota people.205 The Lakota did not have any interest in mining, but they did want to keep their land, not only because the Black Hills belonged to them and were considered sacred, but also because their source of food and shelter, the buffalo, roamed on those Hills. The US government, unhindered by the woes of the Indian, ordered the Lakota to appear at the US Indian Agencies by January 1st, 1876, or be considered a threat. The Lakota were unaware of this order from the government and so they did not make an appearance at the Agency. Therefore, the US government twisted the incident into an act of war by the Lakota and declared “all ‘free’ Indians led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse to be hostile.”206 The true combatants were the leaders and politicians representing the US government, who distorted any action by the Indians, even in defense of their lands and their people, as acts of unprovoked aggression against the US government and the American people themselves. This political cartoon from 1890 (fig. 72) attacks the corruption of government Indian Agents, who were supposed to be helping the Indians to adjust to reservation life. Even though this cartoon is from 1890, the corruption began much earlier and can be clearly outlined from the outcome of the Lakota trying to defend their lands, lands that had been “protected” under an American-based Treaty.
The American public considered General Custer’s death during The Battle of Little Bighorn a national tragedy, but because of the “heroic” action taken by Cody in killing Custer’s killer, Custer’s death was avenged. The legend, as told by Cody, was that he hunted down Custer’s supposed killer, then killed and scalped him. Of course, he enacted his “heroic deed” in his Wild West show before the cheers of an audience. But, who was Custer’s killer and who would play the part of Custer’s killer at the climax of the show during the recreation of the Battle of Little Bighorn? Buffalo Bill attributed Yellow Hand as having killed Custer and even had his supposed scalp on display among his other souvenirs in his tent (fig. 73) at the performances in Paris.208
Although Cody claimed Custer’s killer was Yellow Hand, another Native American came forward claiming to be Custer’s killer. Rain-in-the-Face (fig. 74) was thought to have killed Custer by many Americans including poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who wrote a poem, entitled “The Revenge of Rain-in-the-Face:”209
