Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

CHIEF JOE HEALY

Date

1955

Materials

OIL, BOARD, WOOD

No. Pieces

1

Height

58

Length

73

Width

2

Description

OIL ON CANVAS, DEPICTING OLDER MAN STRAIGHT ON. SITTER IS WEARING A CEREMONIAL FEATHER HEADDRESS, BEADED TUNIC, AND NECK ADORNMENT. TEXT PRINTED BENEATH IMAGE READS “CHIEF JOE HEALY”, AND WORK IS SIGNED “TWO GUN, 55” FLANKED WITH TWO GUNS IN BLACK PAINT. WORK IS STRETCHED BUT UNFRAMED, WITH SOME LOOSE CANVAS THREADS AT EDGES.

Subjects

INDIGENOUS

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

THIS PAINTING WAS ORIGINALLY OWNED BY THE DONOR’S GRANDFATHER, CHARLES PERRY OF LETHBRIDGE. IN CORRESPONDANCE PROVIDED TO GALT MUSEUM COLLECTIONS TECH KEVIN MACLEAN IN NOVEMBER 2013, THE DONOR, JUANITA MCKENZIE, STATED: “OUR FAMILY IS UNSURE OF HOW [THE PAINTING] CAME TO [CHARLES PERRY], BUT WE KNOW THAT HE KNEW PERCY [THE ARTIST] PERSONALLY. THIS MAY HAVE BEEN AS A RESULT OF HIS POSITION AS SECRETARY/MANAGER OF THE LETHBRIDGE AND DISTRICT EXHIBITION, A POSITION HE HELD FROM 1947 UNTIL 1961. DURING THAT TIME, HE BUILT A CLOSE CONNECTION WITH THE NATIVE PEOPLES OF THE AREA… MY GRANDFATHER HELPED ORGANIZE THE NATIVE FRIENDSHIP CENTRE IN LETHBRIDGE AND SERVED AS VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE NATIVE FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA. IN 1951 HE MOVED FROM THE FARM INTO LETHBRIDGE INTO A NEW HOUSE ON 25TH STREET AND 6TH AVENUE SOUTH. HE SET UP A DEN/OFFICE FURNISHED WITH MEMORABILIA FROM THE EARLY RANCHING DAYS OF THE AREA. I FIRST REMEMBER SEEING THE PAINTING DISPLAYED IN THAT HOUSE IN THE EARLY 1950S… MY GRANDMOTHER, WANDAH PERRY, PASSED AWAY FROM CANCER IN THE MID-1950S AND MY GRANDFATHER MARRIED A LONGTIME FRIEND, LAUFEY ENERSON… THEY RESIDED ON SOUTH PARKSIDE DRIVE IN LETHBRIDGE WHERE THE PAINTING CONTINUED TO BE DISPLAYED IN MY GRANDFATHER’S DEN. IN THE LATE 1960S THEY PURCHASED A DUPLEX ON SCENIC DRIVE AND 16TH STREET SOUTH AND IT WAS HUNG ONCE MORE IN THAT HOME. FOLLOWING HIS DEATH IN 1972, LAUFEY CONTINUED TO DISPLAY IT IN MY GRANDFATHER’S DEN. WHILE SHE WAS STILL IN POSSESSION OF THE PAINTING, IT WAS LOANED TO THE GALT MUSEUM DURING A MONTH-LONG DISPLAY OF THE ARTIST’S WORKS… IN 1992 LAUFEY SOLD THE DUPLEX AND MOVED TO HERITAGE LODGE. OUR FAMILY WAS INVITED TO CHOOSE ITEMS FROM THE HOUSE THAT HAD ONCE BELONGED TO MY GRANDFATHER. MY UNCLE, DON PARRY, CHOSE AS ONE OF THE ITEMS THE PORTRAIT OF CHIEF JOE HEALY BY TWO GUN, AS HE HAD ALWAYS ADMIRED IT. IT THEN HUNG IN HIS HOME IN HILLSPRING, ALBERTA, UNTIL 2003. AT THAT TIME HE OFFERED IT TO ME, AS A KEEPSAKE FROM MY GRANDFATHER, AND BECAUSE I REMEMBERED IT SO WELL FROM CHILDHOOD. OUR HOME… IS DECORATED IN A SOUTHWESTERN STYLE AND SO IT FIT IN WELL WITH OUR HOME’S DÉCOR. WE HAVE ENJOYED IT FOR MANY YEARS BUT I REALIZE THAT IT IS NOW MORE THAN 60 YEARS OLD AND MAY START TO DETERIORATE FROM BEING DISPLAYED IN PRIVATE HOMES OVER ALL THOSE YEARS. OUR FAMILY HAS AGREED THAT IT IS PROBABLY TIME THAT IT BE PRESERVED AS PART OF OUR LOCAL HISTORY BY DONATING IT TO THE GALT MUSEUM. WE ARE SURE THAT OUR GRANDFATHER WOULD BE PLEASED WITH OUR DECISION, ESPECIALLY SINCE HE WAS INVOLVED WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CIVIC MUSEUM IN LETHBRIDGE SINCE 1955. HIS CONTRIBUTION WAS RECOGNIZED AT THE TIME OF THE OPENING OF THE GALT MUSEUM IN 1964.” PERCY “TWO GUN” PLAIN WOMAN WAS BORN IN 1895 AND RAISED ON THE KAINAI RESERVE. WITH A GRADE SEVEN EDUCATION, HE LEFT RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL TO TAKE UP LIFE AS A COW PUNCHER. HE SOON BECAME AN EXPERT RIDER AND BRONC BUSTER AND RODEOED THROUGHOUT THE WEST. TWO GUN WAS NEARLY 50 BEFORE HE BEGAN TO TAKE A SERIOUS INTEREST IN ART. AS A MIDDLE-AGED MAN HE TOOK A FEW LESSONS AT THE BANFF SCHOOL OF FINE ART, AND PAINTED TRADITIONAL DESIGNS ON TEEPEES PRIOR TO HIS LATER PORTRAITURE PRACTICE. HIS DEPICTIONS OF TRADITIONAL NATIVE LIFE AND PORTRAITS OF IMPORTANT KAINAI AND BLACKFOOT INDIVIDUALS BECAME WELL KNOWN IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA AND MONTANA. TWO GUN WAS COMMISSIONED TO PAINT A HISTORY OF THE BLACKFOOT TRIBES ON THE LOBBY WALLS OF THE PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL IN WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK. HE FIRST SOLD HIS PAINTINGS TO A LOCAL RESTAURANT FOR $5.00 BUT AS HE BECAME KNOWN DEMAND FOR HIS WORKS INCREASED. IT WAS ONLY IN THE LATER YEARS OF HIS LIFE THAT HE MADE A LIVING OFF HIS ART. DURING THE 1950S TWO GUN CONTRACTED TUBERCULOSIS AND WAS A PATIENT AT CHARLES CAMSELL HOSPITAL IN EDMONTON FOR FOUR YEARS. HE DIED AT AGE 66 IN CARDSTON HOSPITAL. HE USED THE SYMBOL OF TWO CROSSED OR PARALLEL RIFLES TO ACCOMPANY HIS SIGNATURE IN MANY CASES, AS THE NAME TWO GUN WAS HANDED DOWN BY AN UNCLE, CHIEF EAGLECHILD. HIS NEPHEW WAS GERALD TAILFEATHERS, ALSO A WELL-KNOWN CANADIAN NATIVE ARTIST. FOR COPIES OF CALGARY AND LETHBRIDGE HERALD NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ON TWO GUN, SEE PERMANENT FILE P20030029000. FOR HARDCOPIES OF THE ARTIST'S DEATH REGISTRATION, MATERIAL DEVELOPED FOR A 1990 EXHIBITION OF HIS WORK, AND CORRESPONDANCE BETWEEN MUSEUM STAFF AND HUGH DEMPSEY REGARDING THE ARTIST, SEE PERMANENT FILE P19640615000. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY ON THIS PORTRAIT'S SUBJECT, JOE HEALY, WAS DEVELOPED WITH INFORMATION FROM THE GALT ARCHIVES AND 'THE AMAZING DEATH OF CALFSHIRT: THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF BLACKFOOT HISTORY' BY HUGH DEMPSEY: POTAI'NA "FLYING CHIEF' JOE HEALY (LATER CALLED WOLF MOCCASIN) WAS BORN IN 1854 ON THE MONTANA BLACKFEET RESERVATION, TO THE LEADER OF THE BLOOD TRIBE, MANY BRAIDS. MANY BRAIDS HAD BECOME FRIENDLY WITH JOHN J. HEALY, CO-OPERATOR OF THE SUN RIVER CROSSING TRADING POST WITH ALFRED B. HAMILTON. DURING A ROUTINE VISIT TO THE TRADING POST, THE BLOODS' CAMP WAS RAIDED AT NIGHT BY A BAND OF PEND D'OREILLE WARRIORS. MANY BRAIDS, HIS WIFE, BABY AND TEENAGE DAUGHTER WERE KILLED IN THE CONFLICT, WHICH WAS WITNESSED BY JOHN HEALY. BEFORE HE DIED, MANY BRAIDS ASKED JOHN HEALY TO TAKE CARE OF HIS SON, FLYING CHIEF, THE ONLY SURVIVING MEMBER OF THE FAMILY. JOHN HEALY GAVE THE EIGHT YEAR OLD BOY THE NAME JOE HEALY, AND KEPT HIM AT THE TRADING POST UNTIL THE SUMMER, WHEN HE WAS ENROLLED IN THE SCHOOL AT NEARBY FORT SHAW. THERE JOE DEVELOPED HIS KNOWLEDGE OF ENGLISH. IN 1869, WHILE JOE WAS IN SCHOOL, HEALY AND HAMILTON WENT NORTH AND OPENED A TRADING POST AT THE CONFLUENCE OF THE OLDMAN AND ST. MARY RIVERS; THIS POST WOULD BECOME KNOWN AS FORT WHOOP-UP AND WAS INFAMOUS FOR ITS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WHISKEY TRADE AND VIOLENCE IN THE AREA UNTIL THE ARRIVAL OF THE NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE IN 1874. THREE YEARS LATER, DUE TO A DECLINE IN THE BUFFALO POPULATIONS AND THUS THE ROBE MARKET, HEALY CLOSED THE SUN RIVER CROSSING POST AND MOVED TO FORT BENTON. JOE WAS NOW SIXTEEN AND WAS COMPELLED TO RETURN TO HIS RELATIVES AMONG THE BLOODS. HE FOLLOWED THE LAST BUFFALO HERDS WITH BULL SHIELD, AND JOINED IN RELIGIOUS AND WARFARE ACTIVITIES OF THE TRIBE. WHEN THE BLOODS SETLLED ON THEIR RESERVE IN 1881, JOE WAS THE ONLY MEMBER OF THE TRIBE WHO WAS FLUENT IN BLACKFOOT AND ENGLISH. HE WAS AN OUTSPOKEN SUPPORTER OF RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS AND DEFIED ATTEMPTS BY THE GOVERNMENT TO SUPRESS DANCES AND FESTIVALS. HE MARRIED WIDE NOSTRILS, THE DAUGHTER OF IRON PIPE, AND THEY HAD SIX DAUGHTERS AND FOUR SONS. JOE WORKED AS AN OFFICIAL INTERPRETER FOR THE GOVERNMENT WHEN A NEW TREATY WAS MADE IN 1883, AND AS A SCOUT FOR THE RNWMP. IN LATER YEARS HE CO-ORDINATED FIRST NATIONS' PARTICIPATION IN THE LETHBRIDGE EXHIBITION AND STAMPEDE. JOE HEALY DIED AT ST. PAUL'S MISSION ON THE BLOOD RESERVE IN 1936 AS ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED PATRIARCHS OF THE BLOOD TRIBE.

Catalogue Number

P20130026000

Acquisition Date

2013-11

Collection

Museum

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