Inscription on reverse of White tail Fawn.
DeCost Smith's studio in New York, with a posing Native American and artifacts hung on the walls, ca. 1880s. Note the feather bonnet middle right, on a stand, and then I can see a Plains drum, a great Sioux horse dance stick and victory wand, crossed and hanging from the ceiling molding (I think those are both in the Museum of the American Indian, I have certainly seen them before), two lances crossed over a shield and beneath that a bowcase and quiver, etc. The Native American has a single eagle feather in his hair, and has on high top mocassins of some sort.
Iroquois (Onondaga) cabin, 1880s. Oil on canvas on board. 12 X 18. Notation on back, hand, DeC. S.: '"Portrait" of a Log Cabin Onondaga Castle, N.Y. The Witch's House' This painting is illustrated in DeCost Smith's book, "Indian Experiences" and its English reprint, "Red Indian Experiences", in both instances between pages 374 and 375. The caption reads: "Onondaga House. Oil sketch by the author, about 1880. At this house woman was wounded in Witch Hunt B." What precedes it are some pages devoted to how the Iroquois, using specific spells and equipment, neutralize those considered to be witches who use their powers to hurt others. He describes one such foray which evidently was aimed against the occupant of that cabin, and she was wounded.
