American bison 1995
Acrylic on canvas, pine and birch frame 75x90”

The Native Americans of the great plains honored the bison as a life-giver, and indeed for them it was.  They  used every part of its body-- for food, for fuel and tools, for clothing and in religious ceremonies. The killing of a bison was a reverential affair, a combination of thanksgiving and communion.

The U.S. Army, unable to conquer the Indians of this region, decided to eradicate their food source, the bison.  Contests were held to see who could kill the most, and Buffalo Bill Cody was a champion, killing 4,280 in 18 months.

The campaign wiped out nearly 30 million buffalo, as they are most frequently called, and with them, the Indian’s livelihood and independence.  In 1889, there were only a thousand or so bison left in America.  Today, the population is close to 200,000.

The rusted tin can in the lower right of the painting symbolizes the bison used as target practice, with one hole in it for each of the 13 original colonies. In the sky opposite,  you can find the constellation of Orion, “the hunter.” 

The worm represents death and regeneration; the poppies, peace and fertility. The ghost buffalo leaping into the tree under the autumnal foliage is from a Mohawk legend of the bison’s retreat from a land of mass slaughter into a land.