By Marc N. Levine, PhD
The discovery of a 99-year-old manuscript has brought new life to a Lakota pictographic calendar or “winter count” held in the Museum’s collections. The long-lost document provides a detailed explanation of the winter count, which records the history of the Lakota Sioux through a series of hand-painted images or pictographs. On June 5–7, I traveled to the Cheyenne River Reservation Community, along with representatives from the Thwing Holden extended family that found the explanatory text, to celebrate the discovery during a series of events that culminated with a pow-wow or “wacipi.”
The Chief White Horse winter count is painted on a double-sided bolt of cloth and chronicles Lakota history from the years 1789 to 1915. It is named for Chief White Horse, the last keeper of this particular winter count that was either begun by his father or related to him by his father. Traditionally, men were the keepers of the winter count, passing the works-in-progress from father to son. But because White Horse had no male heirs, the winter count ended with his death and was eventually sold and later donated to the Museum in 1983. No explanation accompanied the winter count, therefore the specific meaning and significance of its constellation of images remained elusive.
Unbeknownst to all parties, and as luck would have it, Chief White Horse dictated an account of the winter count to Florence Thwing, the wife of his attorney, George Thwing Sr. The document moved with the family out-of-state and was quietly passed down through a generation unnoticed. Then, about a year ago, Judy Holden Wright, Florence Thwing’s granddaughter, discovered a typed manuscript among her late mother’s belongings entitled “History of the Sioux Nation as told by Chief White Horse.” In a matter of months, it became clear that this was indeed the long-lost interpretation of the Chief White Horse winter count in the Museum’s American ethnology collection.
Chief White Horse’s explanations of the winter count include 1833, “the year of stars moving in the sky,” which may correspond with the Leonid Meteor showers. Other examples include 1892, the year of “the death of Sitting Bull” and 1902, when “President William McKinley was assassinated by Leon Coloogz [sic].” But to his descendants, Chief White Horse’s winter count represents more than a recording of general events. Having been passed down through the generations, it represents a more personal and tangible link with the past. The winter count is remarkable in that it provides a history of the Lakota people from their perspective during a time of dynamic cultural change. The Museum is honored to be the stewards of a piece with such far-reaching historical and cultural significance.
