Swift Dog Strikes an Enemy
ca. 1880
Medium
Watercolor and ink on paper
Dimensions
8 5/16 × 13 5/8 in. (21.1 × 34.6 cm)
Classification
Ledger drawing
Culture
Hunkpapa Lakota/ Teton Sioux, Native American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection of Native American Art, Gift of Charles and Valerie Diker, 2019
Accession Number
2019.456.6
Tags
Art Historical Context
"Swift Dog Strikes an Enemy created around 1880 by the Hunkpapa Lakota artist Swift Dog, captures a dramatic moment of valor in the tradition of Plains Indian ledger art. This watercolor and drawing on paper, measuring just 8 5/16 × 13 5/8 inches, depicts the artist himself in dynamic action astride a horse striking a fallen enemy—a classic "coup" in Lakota warrior culture, touching an adversary counted as a brave deed without necessarily killing. Produced during the late reservation era, following conflicts like the Battle of Little Bighorn, such works preserved personal histories amid cultur...