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Ballplay of the Sioux on the St. Peter 's River in Winter
Seth Eastman
1848, Oil on canvas, 25 3/4 x 35 1/4 inches
Acquisition in memory of Mitchell A. Wilder, Director,
Amon Carter Museum, 1961-1979
About the Artist
Seth Eastman was appointed to the United States Military
Academy at West Point in 1824. In 1831, he was sent to Fort
Snelling, Minnesota, and there he became acquainted with
the people and the area that would be the subjects of his
painting for the next 45 years. In 1833 he returned to West
Point to assist the newly appointed instructor of drawing.
His assignment there enabled him to grow artistically.
The years from 1841 to 1848 were ones of artistic achievement
for Eastman. He returned to Fort Snelling, the northern
outpost of a string of forts established to maintain peace
among the Indians and to protect settlers on their way west.
The fort overlooked the junction of the St. Peter's and
Mississippi Rivers. Eastman spent five years there and completed
400 pictures of the Indians and the Minnesota landscape.
His fascination with the many aspects of Indian life is
recorded in these works.
About the Art
This painting shows the viewer an event of importance in
the life of the Sioux Indians in a particular place and
during a specific time period. The many details of the landscape,
the clothing, the other objects shown in the painting, and
the placement of the figures tell us about the excitement
and the intensity of the game and what it meant to the people
involved in playing and in observing the sport.
Additional Information
In this painting Sioux Indians are shown in elaborate and
colorful dress on a gray winter day on the frozen St. Peter's
River. The trees are bare and the viewer can see tepees
in the background. One member of the team has the ball and
is racing toward the goal which is out of sight. Some times
the goal could be as much as a half a mile away. The player
with the ball is pursued by members of both teams. The opposing
team tries to stop him, while his own team members try to
clear the way for him to reach the goal. The objects on
the ground in the lower left corner are prizes wagered on
the outcome of the game. They are weapons, cooking utensils,
clothing, and other valued objects guarded by older members
of the tribe.
The game the Indians are playing was called lacrosse by
the French and was popular among the Sioux tribes. The game
was played by the Six Nations of the Iroquois in upper New
York State before 1500, and the Cherokees called it little
brother of war because of the good combat training it provided.
A painting by another artist, George Catlin, shows hundreds
of Choctaw Indians playing the game, each with two bats.
Dances and elaborate ceremonies were planned before the
games, which could often go on for many days.
In a letter of 1849, Seth Eastman's wife, Mary, wrote that
the object of the game was to get the ball (a piece of baked
clay covered with deer skin) beyond a certain line.
Mary Eastman wrote a book about the Sioux Indians while
she and her husband lived at Fort Snelling. Her book, Dahcotah;
or, Life and Legends of the Sioux around Fort Snelling describes
the daily life and customs of the Indians there. In the
chapter entitled Wenona, Mrs. Eastman describes the ball
play shown by her husband in this painting, but her description
is of the women playing this very rough game. She wrote:
"The maidens of the village were all dressed
in their gayest clothing, with ornaments of beads, bracelets,
rings, and ribbons in profusion. They cared not half so
much for the prizes, as they rejoiced at the opportunity
of displaying their graceful persons....The women, young
and old, were divided into two parties; but as one party
threw the ball towards the space marked off, the others
threw it back again far over their heads, and then all
ran back, each party endeavoring to reach it first, that
they might succeed in placing the ball in the position
which was to decide the game."
Mary Eastman's description of the game also tells us that
the women played as roughly as the men, often inflicting
serious injuries on each other. Prizes were given, but it
seems that the most exciting reason for both men and women
to play the game was the thrill of competing and the opportunity
to show their skill.
About the Time and Place
Many changes were taking place in the United States during
the mid-1800s. In 1848, the year Ball Play of the Sioux
was painted, New York became the first state to allow married
women to own real estate. That same year, a group of women
organized the Woman's Rights Convention. They met in Seneca
Falls, New York, and made the first appeal for the right
of women to vote. It was many years before all women in
the United States could vote, but this group was important
in bringing the issue before the people.
An equally significant social reform of this era was the
Abolition Movement. By the early 1800s every Northern state
had outlawed slavery, but the plantation system in the South
still depended on slaves for most of its labor. North and
South continued to be on opposite sides of this issue, leading
to the withdrawal from the Union of eleven Southern states
in the 1860s. On April 12, 1861, the Civil War began.
Two other important historical events occurred in 1848:
the United States won the Mexican War, gaining vast territories
in the West, and the discovery of gold in California led
to the Gold Rush.
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