Other times there might even be special songs sung when paint was applied. It was believed that Indians' prayers were put into the paint, and when applied, the power of the prayers was conveyed upon the wearer. Hence the stereotypical term “war paint”. Warriors would paint themselves with personal protective designs and colors before they engaged in battle with an enemy. The painting of a man's face and body among the plains tribes during the buffalo days was said to be a form of mental conditioning. The paint was sold in small packages not much larger than a paper of darning needles.” (Fletcher & Laflesche, 1911, p. “Another saving of labor in comparison with old methods was involved in buying paints from the traders. Therefore, the Osage received many European items in trade including Chinese vermilion (aka mercury sulfide face-paint).Įven among the Omaha, there is evidence that paint was obtained at a very early stage from traders, as evidenced by the following, Louis was founded in 1764, it is said that the Osage used their talents and knowledge to make the fur trade profitable because they were considered the best fur producers south of Canada. Louis, he states that long before French explorers met them in 1673, the Osage had moved onto the central plains along with the related, neighboring tribes of Kansas (aka Kaw), Omaha, Ponca, and Quapaw. Frederick Fausz, Ph.D., in his published curriculum for the 2004 course titled The Louisiana Expansion at the University of Missouri – St. When used they would either apply the paint dry or mix it with bear grease, buffalo tallow, or water to achieve the desired effect.īecause of the religious significance and the ceremonial uses many tribes had for red paint, the bright vermilion red paint offered to tribes by European fur traders was highly sought after at a very early date. The powder was kept in a small buckskin bundle and would have been put into a larger decorated paint bag with other bundles of different colors with perhaps a bone or wooden applicator and a small mirror. To prepare them for use, most of the raw colored earth or clay deposits were baked and then ground into a powder. The blue was found in Southern Minnesota and required no treatment by heat, and the white and black in North Dakota.” (Densmore, 1918, p. White, black and blue paints were obtained by mixing colored earthy substances with buffalo fat. In the old days this red powder was mixed with buffalo fat in making the paint, but at present time it is mixed with water. When the ball is cold, it is pounded to powder. The action of the heat changes the color of the substance to red. This fire is maintained at a gentle, even heat for about an hour, which is sufficient for the amount of the substance usually prepared at a time. When the ground is baked the coals are removed, the ball is placed in the hole, and a fire is built above it. A hole is dug in the ground in which a fire of oak bark is made. First, the substance mixed with water is formed into a ball.
The baking of this ocherous substance – a process which requires skill – is done by the women. This substance, when treated by means of heat, yields the vermilion used on all ceremonial articles as well as in painting the bodies of the Indians. “On the Standing Rock Reservation is found a yellow ocherous substance which, after being reduced to a fine powder, is used by the Indians in making yellow paint. A description of this is described by Frances Densmore in her work titled Teton Sioux Music, The base for red paints, probably the mostĬommonly used color, were crimson-colored clay.Ī brownish-red paint could be obtained by baking yellow clay over ashes until it turned red. Powdered charred wood and black earth were used in making black paint. One type of blue paint came from drying a certain type of duck manure, and some tribes would combine a bluish mud and yellow clay to make green paint. Green paint was obtained from copper ores. White and yellow paint was obtained from white and yellow clays along river beds, and buffalo gallstones produced a different kind of yellow. The oldest materials used in paint were derived from animal, vegetable and mineral sources, with earth or mineral paint being the most common.
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