OCR Text |
Show 54 the other foreground figures for Scalp Dance. However, there is one serious problem for this speculation. The portrait, which bears a definite likeness to the aquatint figure, is that of Ninoch-Kiaiu, a Piegan Blackfeet chief,whom Bodmer had painted during his stay at Fort McKenzie the previous summer.^ It is the two unidentified foreground figures that point out the valid concern of historians and ethnologists for the documentary accuracy of this aquatint. Without careful tracing of the origins of each of these figures, some misinformation is conveyed. The seated figure is nondescript and, although it is likely that inaccurate references were used to develop it, the information transmitted is neutral. The central foreground figure wears a robe, and although possibly drawn from a source depicting a Minnetaree Indian, the design can nowhere be verified. These two figures point out the only serious documentary inaccuracies contained in Scalp Dance: this was the first time a rationale could not be found to justify Bodmer's insertion of additional information into the image, and where artistic demands have interfered with the reportive accuracy of the print. Nonetheless, if misinformation has been inserted into the image, all the information must be considered suspect; only close comparison and tracing of all the various elements to their original sources can reestablish the documentary reliability of individual aquatints. |