The Chief Buffalo Mural Project

Where the image comes from: This image was originally made on birchbark by a group of Ojibwe chiefs protesting the government’s interpretations of the 1837 and 1842 treaties.  The full image shows the chiefs represented by their clan animals joined in heart and mind against the removal of the Lake Superior Ojibwe people.  Artist Seth Eastman copied and colored the birchbark petition in 1849 for use in Henry Rowe Schoolcraft’s Historical and statistical information respecting the history, condition, and prospects of the Indian tribes of Indian tribes of the United States (1853).

Why it might be Chief Buffalo:

• The Wisconsin Historical Society claims that elders from Lac Courte Oreilles identified the crane as Chief Buffalo.
• Non-Native chroniclers, including Schoolcraft, have traditionally misinterpreted or misunderstood Native views.

Why it might not be Chief Buffalo:

• The original published source of this document, and nearly every source that has reproduced it, claim the crane represents Chief Oshcabawis from Lac Vieux Desert.
• The Congressional record from 1849 records a petition from a delegation of Ojibwe Chiefs from the headwaters of the Wisconsin River (Lac Vieux Desert).  This is consistent with the description given by Schoolcraft and Eastman.
• Chief Buffalo’s descendants and nearly all written sources say that he was a member of the Loon clan, not the Crane clan.  There is even a lengthy passage in William Warren’s History of the Ojibways discussing Buffalo and the Loons’ relationship with the Cranes who were led by Warren’s great-uncle, Chief Tagwagane.  Tagwagane was the son of Chief White Crane and the brother of Equaysayway (Madeline Cadotte).

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  IS THIS CHIEF BUFFALO OR OSHCABAWIS?

Me and Robin drew this loon on tuesday.

Where the image comes from:This image appears in the 1892 memoirs of Chief Buffalo’s adopted son and personal interpreter, Benjamin Armstrong.  Armstrong traveled to Washington in 1852 with Chief Buffalo, Chief Oshogay, and a few others from Madeline Island.  They met with President Fillmore and helped persuade the government to make a new treaty (Treaty of La Pointe 1854) with the Lake Superior Ojibwe that would create reservations east of the Mississippi River.  Forty years later, Armstrong told his story to a publisher in Ashland and had it printed into a book.  This image is obviously of the 1852 group, but no one knows when it was created or by whom.  The mark is from a Milwaukee printer that operated in the 1880s and ’90s, and  is the same as all the images in Armstrong’s book. It appears this image comes from a much-earlier photograph, but I’ve never seen this photo and don’t know for sure if it exists.

Why it might be Chief Buffalo:

• It is labeled as the 1852 Washington Delegation and appears in the section of the book about Buffalo’s 1852 trip.
• It comes from a book written by someone who knew Chief Buffalo.
• The Minnesota Historical Society issued a poster of Chief Buffalo and used this image.

Why it might not be Chief Buffalo:

• There just doesn’t seem to be a lot of information out there about this one.
• The people aren’t labeled.  The man in the upper right appears to be Armstrong, and the man seated in the middle appears to be Buffalo, but that is speculation.
• The image could have been created 35+ years after he died, and we don’t know how it was created.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  IS THIS CHIEF BUFFALO?  IF SO, WAS THE IMAGE TAKEN DURING HIS LIFETIME?:

loon2

Originally uploaded by leofilipczak

At this point, the boys are planning to include a loon (Chief Buffalo’s clan) in the background of the mural. The loon will probably be similar to this one painted by Joshim Kakegamic (1952-1993) a painter of the Anishinaabe Woodland Style made famous in Canada by Ojibwe and Oji-Cree artists like Norval Morrisseau and Carl Ray. Joshim Kakegamic was a member of the Sandy Lake First Nation, a remote Oji-Cree community in northern Ontario. Mr. Filipczak taught at Deer Lake, a neighboring community, and had several Kakegamics (Joshim’s relatives) as students.

Robin Murphy, the artist who worked with the Bayfield students last year on the huge wildlife mosaic mural in cafeteria, has agreed to help the Chief Buffalo project!  She met with Lane and Chris about minor adjustments to the design and has shown them several tricks on how to speed up the process.  The mural is now on pace to be completed much sooner than we thought it would be!  For this project, the boys have total control of the design, but you can visit Robin’s website to see some of her original work.

Tracing the computer design out on paper so it can be fine-tuned by hand.

Where the image comes from: This image is of a marble bust and bronze copy found in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington D.C.  The words, “”Bee-she-kee, The Buffalo, a Chippewa warrior from the sources of the Mississippi” are carved into the medal around his neck.  The marble was created in February of 1855 by an Italian sculptor named Francis Vincenti.  The only surviving record of the bust’s creation is that Vincenti paid $5.00 to an Indian chief named Besheke to sit and model for the three days it took to finish the bust.  At the same time, Vincenti also carved a similar bust of Flat Mouth, the famous Pillager Ojibwe chief from Leech Lake.  The bronze was made in 1858 by Jos. LasSalle.  If you go to Washington D.C. and ask to see the statue of Chief Buffalo, you can see both the bronze and the marble busts.

Why it might be Chief Buffalo:

• Chief Buffalo is famous for his 1852 trip to Washington D.C., so it makes sense that they would put a statue of him in the Capitol.
• Chief Buffalo from La Pointe is the most famous Chief Buffalo.
• Several books, websites, and other sources from the last 40 years claim this statue is Chief Buffalo from La Pointe.
• The U.S. Congress and Capitol staff have published documents saying it is him.
• Elders from Red Cliff have been to see this statue and were told it is him.

Why it might not be Chief Buffalo:

• Chief Buffalo went to D.C. in 1852.   There is no record from the time period of Chief Buffalo going back to Washington D.C. in 1855.
• Chief Buffalo died in September 1855 and records suggest that he was bedridden for much of that year.
• In February 1855, while the statue was being carved, a war chief from Leech Lake, also named Beshekee was in Washington D.C. signing the 1855 Treaty between the US and the Pillager and Mississippi Bands from Minnesota.
• “Chippewa warrior from the sources of the Mississippi” would more accurately describe the Leech Lake Chief Buffalo than it would the LaPointe Chief Buffalo.
• Flat Mouth was from Leech Lake and it makes sense that he and the Leech Lake Buffalo would have their statues carved together.
• The man carved in the statue does not look over 95 years old.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  IS THIS CHIEF BUFFALO FROM LA POINTE OR CHIEF BUFFALO FROM LEECH LAKE?  LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW:

With the GIMP shop mosaic feature.

Where the image comes from:

I found this one on the Wisconsin Historical Society website www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi with this description:  “Pe-shick-ee, a Chief of the Chippeway (Ojibwa) Tribe. Hand-colored lithograph from the Aboriginal Portfolio, painted at the Treaty of Prairie du Chien (1827).”

There really isn’t a lot of information out there about this one, but it is in a similar style and from the same time period as another image of a chief named Buffalo by Henry Inman and Charles Bird King (look further down this page to see that one).

Why it might be Chief Buffalo:

• Chief Buffalo was one of the leaders of the Ojibwe delegation to the Treaty of Prairie du Chein.
• Pe-schick-ee is a variant spelling of Bizhiki (Buffalo).

Why it might not be Chief Buffalo:

• Another Ojibwe chief named Bizhiki from the St. Croix area also was at the treaty signing.
• The Treaty of Prairie du Chien records Gitspee Waskee as the name of the LaPointe chief (Buffalo was known in Ojibwe both as Gichi-Weshkii and as Bizhiki), but it records the St. Croix Buffalo as Pee-see-ker.
• The man in this image does not seem to resemble other reported images of Chief Buffalo.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  IS THIS CHIEF BUFFALO FROM LA POINTE OR CHIEF BUFFALO FROM ST. CROIX?  LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW:

By Chris

I was gone for two weeks with a fever of 103.5, so it’s slowed down the process of me getting on the computer.  Here is the latest design. 

Lane took a break from the Chief Buffalo mural long enough to help with this big mural that the 6th grade class helped paint.