Homecoming

Bunky Echo-Hawk, artist

Cultural affiliations: Pawnee, Yakama

born 1975

Homecoming, 2011

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: canvas; acrylic

Dimensions:
Canvas/Support (Height x Width x Depth): 122 x 155.5 cm
Canvas/Support (Height x Width x Depth): 48 1/16 x 60 1/16 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: Peter T. Bohan Art Acquisition Fund

Accession number: 2011.0155

Not on display

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Images

Label texts

Debut

Against a landscape of clear blue skies and rolling red hills, a decapitated Pawnee man gazes, mouth agape, through a fraying flag of the 11th Kansas Regiment. The commemorative peace medal on the man’s military blue uniform identifies him as one of six Pawnee Scouts honorably discharged from the United States Army. On January 29, 1869, these Pawnee soldiers were killed on their journey home near Salina, Kansas, by U.S. Army soldiers. The beheading documented in Homecoming references the decapitation of the corpses so that their crania could be studied in Washington, D.C. More than a century later, the scouts’ remains were repatriated to the Pawnee Nation where they were respectfully buried among their kin.

Debut

The Object Speaks

Against a landscape of clear blue skies and rolling red hills, a decapitated Pawnee man gazes, mouth agape, through a torn and fraying flag of the 11th Kansas Regiment. The commemorative peace medal proudly worn against the man’s military blue uniform identifies him as one of six Pawnee Scouts honorably discharged from the United States Army. On January 29, 1869, these Pawnee soldiers were killed near Salina, Kansas, on their journey homeward. The beheading documented in Homecoming references the decapitation of the corpses so that their crania could be studied in Washington, D.C. More than a century later, the scouts’ remains were repatriated to the Pawnee Nation, where they were respectfully buried among their kin.

Exhibition Label:
Jul-2014, Cassandra Mesick
With signature candor, Native American painter, poet, and activist Bunky Echo-Hawk portrays an evocative scene from local history: against a landscape of clear blue skies and rolling red hills, a decapitated Pawnee man gazes, mouth agape, through a torn and fraying flag of the 11th Kansas Regiment. The commemorative peace medal proudly worn against the man’s military blue uniform identifies him as one of six Pawnee Scouts honorably discharged from United States Army in 1869, only to be killed on their homeward journeys through Kansas and Nebraska. The beheading documented in Homecoming references the intentional decapitation of the Pawnee Scouts so that their crania could be studied in Washington, D.C. More than a century later, these remains were repatriated to the Pawnee Nation so they could receive a respectful burial among their kin.

Exhibition Label:
"Passages: Persistent Visions of a Native Place," Sep-2011, Nancy Mahaney
This painting features an 1868 Kansas 11th Regimental flag, and a Pawnee Scout, decapitated. In 1869, six highly decorated Pawnee Scouts were honorably discharged from service. They were given peace medals, and were returning home through Kansas to Nebraska. They were killed, despite their service records, honors, etc., and decapitated; their heads were sent to Washington, D.C., to aid an army medical “study,” which compared cranium sizes to intelligence. The theory assumed the bigger the cranium, the smarter the race. The Pawnee Nation received the six heads back in the early 1990s for proper burial.