Arrow's Elk Society Ledger, plainsledgerart.org Travel Mug

One Plains Indian record which has survived the flames of the 19th century the Arrow Elk Society Ledger Book. Collected in 1882 at Darlington, Indian Territory, the Agency of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation, it remained with the descendants of the collector Sallie C. Maffet, until sold at auction in 1997. The artist identifies himself in some drawings by the name glyph of an arrow. This is undistinguished by colour or shape, so the name seems to be intended generically as "Arrow". Cheyenne informants have indicated that such a name would be restricted to close family members of the Keeper of the Sacred Arrows, the tribal talisman. When the Cheyennes in the North surrendered in the spring of 1877, some individuals joined the free Miniconjou camp of Lame Deer, and others chose to remain in small hunting bands, unprotected but free. Arrow may have been among these. He had rejoined the Southern Cheyennes by 1884, for he is listed on the census made in July of that year, in "Band 57," where his name is glossed into English as "Flint". The Cheyenne word is Moxoz (Moh-ots), which can mean either the type of stone, or that which was most commonly made from it : a flint-tipped arrow. He was the "head of household" for seven unidentified others: his wife, another man, and five children. The other heads of household in the camp were Little Hand, Turtle, White Bear, Young Bull Bear, Bird in a Tree, One Eye and Red Lodge. All were likely relatives either of Arrow or his wife. A year later (still called "Flint"), Arrow had moved to a different band. The 1884 group were probably Arrow's NISSON, his brothers and male cousins. By 1885 they had joined his wife's NISSON (sisters and female cousins), which was the more common Cheyenne residence pattern. The household consisted of two men and their wives; the children were gone. It is unlikely that five children in one family died in a single year. More probably, the children had been young relatives from Arrow's NISSON, who had remained with their parents when Arrow joined his wife's family. The second man in the lodge was almost certainly a brother or cousin of Arrow, and the two had married sisters or cousins, a common Cheyenne practice. The other men in Arrow's band of 1885 were Antelope, Red Bird, Flying Coyote, Morning Walker, Four Bulls, Apple, Lone Wolf, Short Teeth, Little Hand, and Young Bull Bear. It will be noted that the last two names had moved in company with Arrow. This most likely indicates that they were close relatives---brothers or cousins, all of whom had married sisters or cousins of the other band. It is likely that Little Hand and Young Bull Bear are two of the principals who appear in Arrow's drawings. Both men are shown as officers of the Crooked Lance, or Elk Warrior Society. A ceremonial shield of the Elk Society was collected from Young Bull Bear, ca. 1885. After 1885, the name of Arrow, or "Flint" vanishes from the census records. He may have died then, or he may simply have changed names. At present, he cannot be tracked further. Since we do not know Arrow's whereabouts in 1882, we cannot be certain that it was he who sold his book of drawings. If he went to the North, the book could have been left with a relative or a friend, who might have sold it without Arrow's knowledge. The evidence from the drawings shows that they recorded events that occurred in 1874-75, during the Southern Cheyennes' last, desperate battles to save their homeland and their buffalo---their sustenance and the foundation of their religion. It is the story of a brave man who, in the crowded days of a beleaguered time, still found ways to joke with his friends, and to seek a little love in his life, while fulfilling his duties as a provider and protector.