Buffalo Hunt # 10 1895

Charles M. Russell painted this scene of a buffalo hunt, sometime around the turn of the twentieth century. The painting romanticizes the Old West, but it also reflects a time of profound social and environmental change in America. Here, the artist is recreating an image of Indigenous life that was already vanishing. The near-eradication of the buffalo was a deliberate strategy by the U.S. government to displace Native American tribes. Artists like Russell helped construct a narrative of rugged individualism and westward expansion that often obscured the violence and dispossession upon which the nation was built. Was Russell celebrating Indigenous traditions, or commodifying them for a white audience hungry for exotic images? Understanding the painting requires understanding the power dynamics of its time and the market for such images. Historical documents, period publications, and analyses of Russell’s other works can provide valuable context. What we see in the artwork is not a neutral record but a product of complex cultural and institutional forces.