Tipi Liner Depicting Cehupa's (Jaw) Exploits
Hunkpapa Lakota
Lakota (Teton Sioux)
Plains
about 1910
Muslin, paint, porcupine quills, rawhide, Native tanned hide, cotton cloth, tin cones, dye, wool yarn, ink, string, thread
Overall: 34 13/16 × 147 1/4 in. (88.5 × 374 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Mrs. Harvey P. Hood W'18 Fund
2009.10
Geography
Place Made: Standing Rock, North Dakota, United States, North America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Textile
Research Area
Native American
Native American: Plains
On view
Label
Tipi liners would be tied inside a tipi to provide decoration and brighten the space. This liner likely depicts scenes of Lakota life and the military prowess of Ćehu'pa or Jaw, a Lakota leader who fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn and later lived on the Standing Rock Reservation. As Lakota and other nations became confined to reservations, they sought various means of supporting themselves, which included modifying their artistic practice to be marketed to a primarily White settler-colonial audience. The inclusion of Lakota-language notations suggests that this liner was made for the tourist market. Had it been made to be used within the community, names would have been unnecessary because people knew who was depicted by the events shown or the clothing of the participants.
From the 2026 exhibition Nurturing Nationhood: Artistic Constructions of America, 1790-1940, curated by Haely Chang (Jane and Raphael Bernstein Associate Curator of East Asian Art), Evonne Fuselier (Hood Museum Board of Advisors Mutual Learning Fellow), Michael Hartman (former Jonathan Little Cohen Curator of American Art), Elizabeth Rice Mattison (Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art), and Ashley B. Offill (Curator of Collections)
Course History
NAS 30.2, ARTH 16, Plains Ledger Drawings and Their Complexities, Joyce Szabo, Summer 2013
Exhibition History
Native American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 8, 2011-March 12, 2012.
Nurturing Nationhood: Artistic Constructions of America, 1790-1940, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; February 7-August 29, 2026.
Publication History
George P. Horse Capture, Sr., Joe D. Horse Capture, Joseph M. Sanchez, et al., Native American Art at Dartmouth: Hightlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2011, ill. p. 34 and 109 and 20 and p. 165, no. 113.
Provenance
Reportedly collected at Fort Yates, South Dakota between 1885-1900 by Dr. Edwin Smith [contract doctor with the U.S. Indian Service]; by descent in the Smith Family; Paul Raczka, Sun Valley, Idaho; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1987-1988; Richard and Nedra Matteucci [private collection], Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1988; sold to present collection, 2009.
This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.
We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu