Annie Little Warrior (1895–1966) was a

Hunkpapa Lakota The Hunkpapa (Lakota: ) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name ' is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as ...

artist from the

Standing Rock Reservation The Standing Rock Reservation ( lkt, Íŋyaŋ Woslál Háŋ) lies across the border between North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic "Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lakota Oyate and the Ihunktuwona and Pabaksa ...

and an early woman

ledger art Ledger art is a term for narrative drawing or painting on paper or cloth, predominantly practiced by Plains Indian, but also from the Plateau and Great Basin. Ledger art flourished primarily from the 1860s to the 1920s. A revival of ledger art be ...

ist. She was also known by the names Annie Red Tomahawk and Mrs. Henry Red Tomahawk.

Background

Born in 1895, Annie Little Warrior married Harry Red Tomahawk. They lived on the

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

. Authors Paula Calvin and Patricia Janis Broder believed that she was Cheyenne, because she depicted Cheyenne imagery in one of her drawings. Researchers at the

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

identified her was being born in 1895, Hunkpapa Lakota, married to Harry Red Tomahawk, living on the Standing Rock Reservation, and dying in 1966. However, her grave says she died in 1988.

Artwork

Little Warrior drew ledger art with graphite and crayon on paper. Her work is unusual in that it was narrative, rather than being abstract as was much of the art produced by Native American women during those years. What little is known about her can be gleaned from internal clues in her drawings. She is known to have depicted the post-contact world, as one of her drawings contains a depiction of the

American flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the c ...

. Her pictures show rituals from the

Plains Indian Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of N ...

tribes; at least one is suspected to show a

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

ritual, probably a War Dance, as the men illustrated wear headdresses typical of that tribe. Another work depicts the moving of a camp. This work is signed "Miss Annie Little Warrior" in a hand likely not her own; the prominence of the signature indicates that her identity as an artist carried considerable importance for her. Five of her drawings are in the collection of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Warrior, Annie 1895 births 1966 deaths Hunkpapa people Native American women artists Native American painters