War Dance Sioux By George Catlin Summary

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When George Catlin painted “War Dance, Sioux”, he painted what appears to be the entire village, including women and children, which could allude to the close nit communities that Native American villages relied upon. The setting of the painting appears to be at sun down, which is a time usually associated with the war dance. It seems that the Sioux tribe were performing this war dance to ensure success in their battle, and jumping through the fire instilled bravery into the warriors and filled them with brawn and purpose. Many of the Native Americans in Catlin’s painting are wearing traditional headdresses for wartime, but all of them are not participating, possibly because some of the tribesman are either too young to too old to fight.