ticketsMember | Make a donation

Buffalo Picture Tipi of Never Got Shot

1891–1904
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
This painted hide is a model of a tipi cover and likely depicts a young warrior’s spiritual encounter with supernatural animals. In the late nineteenth century, as the tradition of making tipi coverings began to disappear, anthropologist James Mooney documented more than forty-five of them as miniatures. Only a family member of the original warrior could grant him permission to reproduce an image. In this case, it was the daughter of the warrior named Never Got Shot.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Buffalo Picture Tipi of Never Got Shot
  • Date: 1891–1904
  • Geography: United States, Oklahoma
  • Culture: Kiowa
  • Medium: Native-tanned leather, pigment
  • Dimensions: Width: 52 in. (132.1 cm)
  • Classification: Hide
  • Credit Line: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., Department of Anthropology (E229905-0)
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing