Black Hawk (1832-1890)

Black Hawk, was a member of the Sans Arc Lakota tribe, or Sioux, a nomadic tribe that followed the buffalo that they depended on for food, clothing and other necessities.  By the end of the 19^th century, herds had been hunted almost to extinction by settlers.  Black Hawk was hard-pressed to feed his family during this time.  To help him overcome this dilemma, William Edward Caton, the Indian trader at the Cheyenne Agency in Dakota, hired him to document his tribe’s history in ledger form.  He paid him 50 cents for each page.  Caton gave him sheets of lined writing paper, colored pencil, and a pen.  Black Hawk produced seventy-six drawings over the course of the winter of 1880-1881.  It is not clear if these were in a ledger book or on individual sheets of paper.

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