American Historical Ephemera and Early Photography, including The Larry Ness Collection of Native American Photography

Cabinet photograph on cardstock mount, with George Scott's Yankton, South Dakota imprint on recto. Title appears stamped in purple ink below image, "Mother of Messiah."

This documents one of the more curious incidents associated with the Ghost Dance period on the Standing Rock Reservation in North and South Dakota. In early November 1890, Agency police arrested Scarlet Woman (Waluta Winyan), wife of Bird Beak (Zintka Poga), for claiming to be the mother of the risen Christ. Agent McLaughlin, an ardent Catholic, was scandalized by her claim and had her hauled before the tribal court and Chief Judge John Grass. Widely reported in the press, her claims about the Ghost Dance alarmed both Agent McLaughlin and US Army officials who saw it as portending an uprising which might be led by the renowned Sitting Bull, in whose camp Ghost Dancing was occurring. Four weeks after this news report, McLaughlin issued the order to arrest Sitting Bull, resulting in the chief’s assassination on 15 December 1890. In this portrait, apparently made just prior to or immediately after her appearance before the tribal court, Scarlet Woman is seated in a chair placed outside behind a building at the Agency.

The rocks piled at the right have been used in a sweat lodge ceremony, one of the seven sacred rites of the Lakota People. They would be heated red-hot in a fire, carried into the low, covered structure, and then water dashed on them to produce a cleansing steam. The deer antlers were used to manipulate the hot rocks. This is an indication that the adjacent building may have been the tribal courthouse, for the Sioux officials would traditionally have purified themselves before sitting in judgement.

Provenance: Cowan's, Western & Historic Americana, 6 December 2007, Lot 398.