Leader of the Mandan Buffalo Bull Society is the original watercolor painted by Bodmer on the spot in April, 1834. The full buffalo head mask was worn ceremonially and only by the bravest warriors and leaders of the society.

Prince Maximilian described a succession of age-graded societies through which Mandan men aspired to progress. The Buffalo Bull Society was the last and most prestigious; initiation into it was based on a combination of accomplishment in battle and wealth.

During society ceremonies, members wore buffalo horns attached to a rawhide headband. The two members most renowned for bravery wore the complete head mask. Fox tails attached to the moccasin heels represent specific feats of combat. The decorative elements of the shield are symbols of personal power, a kind of medicine or magic purchased from older members of the society.

Posed here for Bodmer's exhaustive observation and comprehensively detailed painting, this figure appears in the dramatic ritual dancing depicted in our Perfect Recreation of the later aquatint Tableau 18, Bison-Dance of the Mandan Indians.

About Karl Bodmer

In 1832-34 German explorer-naturalist Prince Maximilian of Weid-Neuweid traveled the interior regions of North America to document what he referred to as vanishing cultures, the tribes of Native Americans who live in what was then a vast wilderness west of the Mississippi. Accompanying him was 23-year-old Swiss artist Karl Bodmer (1809-93), whom Maximilian employed to capture a “faithful and vivid picture” of American Indian people. During their journey, Bodmer painted chiefs and warriors from the same tribes -- and in some cases the same individuals -- that Lewis & Clark met on their journey nearly three decades before.

If you'd like to see and learn more about this fascinating body of work, click here to buy Karl Bodmer's America at Amazon.com