Portrait of Chief He Dog

Portrait of Chief He Dog, of the Oglala Lakota, 1900

Each line on a Native Americans face is a badge of honor, every line holds sacred knowledge from their experiences in this life. Like the tree that has lines in their inner trunk for every year it has existed and holds the knowledge of all those years, so does these lines show the knowledge amassed in these faces. For honor and respect were shown to these elders, and the more lines meant more knowledge to share. For these Elders usually had the last word for the most important decisions for the well being of their Nation. These lines had just as much stature as Eagle feathers collected and they were shown proudly. We did not see beauty as young appearance but saw beauty and gave reverance to these lines