Indian Medas Secretly Showing the Contents of their Medicine Sacks to Each Other by Seth Eastman

Indian Medas Secretly Showing the Contents of their Medicine Sacks to Each Other 1849 - 1855

drawing, watercolor

portrait

drawing

narrative-art

landscape

watercolor

group-portraits

united-states

history-painting

academic-art

watercolor

realism

indigenous-americas

Here we have Seth Eastman's watercolor, depicting a secretive gathering of Medas, or medicine men, from an Indian tribe. The central motif, the medicine sack, isn't merely a container; it's a vessel of power and identity. The sharing of contents, done in secrecy under the boughs of the forest, speaks to a profound sense of communal knowledge and shared responsibility. Think of the ancient Greek symposium, where knowledge was exchanged in similar, ritualistic settings. Just as the Greeks looked to their gods for guidance, so too did these Medas consult the spirits held within their medicine sacks. This motif of the sack as a container of the soul appears across cultures—from the shamanic traditions of Siberia to the dream pouches of Aboriginal Australians. It's a testament to humanity's collective unconscious, the idea that certain symbols and gestures resonate across time and space. This cyclical progression reminds us that cultural memory is not linear but a continuous, evolving narrative.

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minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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U.S. Army Captain Seth Eastman was a trained artist who served twice on the frontier at Minnesota’s Fort Snelling, from 1830 to 1832 and again from 1841 to 1848. His extensive firsthand, peaceful encounters with Native Americans gave him extraordinary opportunities to observe their customs and practices, which he documented in his art. He became known as the “pictorial historian of the Indian.” This watercolor belongs to a series that he made between 1849 and 1855 to illustrate Henry Rowe Schoolcraft’s massive survey, "Historical and Statistical Information Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States" (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851-57). Mia’s 35 watercolors and drawings for the project represent an astounding array of subjects: muskrat hunting, fish spearing, pest control, rice gathering, maple sugaring, shelter, travel, medicine, mourning, dancing, civics, and topography. With such variety and Eastman’s well-informed clarity of depiction, they constitute an unparalleled visual account of native ways in our region.