Three most impressive masterpieces (1825-1829) by Thomas Cole

Hi Miguel,

You are surely right on these 3 being impressive, that they are.

This one is called the sacrifice. Is the girl being sacrificed to this tree/bush or whatever it is, maybe a spirit! What are your thoughts on this? You too Roger. I love to hear what you 2 think.

Miguel,

This is a difficult one.

There isn't much evidence of the sacrifice of women in North America. There is some record of children being used but this too seems to be in isolated tribes.

Very interesting though as rarely discussed.

Roger

Hi Myrna,

As Roger says, there is little evidence of ritual child or women sacrifice among the North American ancient tribes; but unfortunately there is. My personal belief, however, is that ritual sacrifice of this sort was only practiced once a time of degradation had set in in each particular case, which in many of them unfortunately coincided with that of the white man arrival at their territories.

I have examined this point for other American countries and concluded that this held true in most cases but with notable exceptions, for example that of the ancient Caral culture in Peru, my country, whose beginnings in about 3000 BC apparently coincided with the inauguration of a golden, peaceful age in South America. Conversely, in other already very ancient cultures like Chavin, also in Peru, and the Aztecs civilization, in Mexico, ritual human sacrifices were widely practiced.

Now as to North American countries: According to Wikipedia, for example, "The Skidi Pawnee practiced child sacrifice, specifically of captive girls, in the "Morning Star ritual". They continued this practice regularly through the 1810s and possibly after 1838, the last reported sacrifice. Other cases include the following: "...In June 1818, the Missouri Gazette of St. Louis contained the account of a sacrifice. The last known child sacrifice was of Haxti, a 14-year-old Oglala Lakota girl, on April 22, 1838."

I selected the above paragraphs, a little by chance, from info in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawnee_people, but now I will amplify it a bit more in what follows:

"Typically, a warrior would dream of the Morning Star, usually in the autumn, which meant it was time to prepare for the various steps of the ritual. The visionary would consult with the Morning Star priest, who helped him prepare for his journey to find a sacrifice.[...] With help from others, the warrior would capture a young unmarried girl from an enemy tribe. The Pawnee kept the girl and cared for her over the winter, taking her with them as they made their buffalo hunt. They arranged her sacrifice in the spring, in relation to the rising of the Morning Star. She was well treated and fed throughout this period..."

"When the morning star rose ringed with red, the priest knew it was the signal for the sacrifice. He directed the men to carry out the rest of the ritual, including the construction of a scaffold outside the village. It was made of sacred woods and leathers from different animals, each of which had important symbolism. It was erected over a pit with elements corresponding to the four cardinal directions. All the elements of the ritual related to symbolic meaning and belief, and were necessary for the renewal of life. The preparations took four days..."

"A procession of all the men, boys and male infants accompanied the girl out of the village to the scaffold. Together they awaited the morning star. When the star was due to rise, the girl was placed and tied on the scaffold. At the moment the star appeared above the horizon, the girl was killed with an arrow, then the priest cut the skin of her chest to bleed. She was quickly shot with arrows by all the participating men and boys to hasten her death. The girl was carried to the east and placed face down so her blood would soak into the earth, with appropriate prayers for the crops and life she would bring to all life on the prairie..."

"About 1820-1821, news of the sacrifices reached the East Coast; it caused a sensation among European Americans. Before this, US Indian agents had counseled Pawnee chiefs to suppress the practice, as they warned of how it would upset the American settlers, who were arriving in ever greater number. Knife Chief ransomed at least two captives before sacrifice. For any individual, it was extremely difficult to try to change a practice tied so closely to Pawnee belief in the annual renewal of life for the tribe. In June 1818, the Missouri Gazette of St. Louis contained the account of a sacrifice. The last known child sacrifice was of Haxti, a 14-year-old Oglala Lakota girl, on April 22, 1838..."

And all this was occurring as most of the Hudson River School artists, and particularly Thomas Cole, its founder, were actively painting the beautiful North American landscapes that we have been admiring in this thread.

Hugs,

Miguel

As usual Miguel your research is thorough.

Painfully in teresting and does raise the chance that this is indeed the image in the painting.

Roger