Buffalo Hunt

Guerue was a student of Dorothy Dunn at the Santa Fe Indian School, as well as a Northern Plains scholar. His work follows the flat, two-dimensional, traditional Plains style. Like many Native American artists of North and South Dakota, Guerue depicts everyday activities from tribal times, including camp and village scenes, buffalo hunts, moving camp, butchering buffalo, tanning hides, and warfare.

The plains bison have always been the cornerstone species for the culture, spirituality, and diet of all Great Plains peoples. An equally important animal for the Lakota, a Great Plains tribe, is the horse. The arrival of horses after 1500 revolutionized indigenous cultures and subsistence practices. Hunting became more important as tribes expanded their ranges. As contact with distant tribes occurred more frequently, there was increased likelihood of competition and warfare. Eventually, in most tribes, a person’s wealth or status was measured in horses, and great honors came to those who could capture them from an enemy.