Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

KAINAI CHIEF GOOD STRIKER

Date Range From

1940

Date Range To

1950

Materials

WOOD, CANVAS

No. Pieces

1

Length

44.1

Width

40.0

Description

FRAMED OIL ON CANVAS, PORTRAIT, MALE IN TRADITIONAL NATIVE REGALIA. SIGNED BOTTOM LEFT "TWO GUN". UNTITLED, HOWEVER PENCILLED ON BACKING "CHIEF GOOD STRIKER BLOOD RESERVE".

Subjects

INDIGENOUS

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

TWO GUN NOM D' PLUME FOR PERCY PLAINS WOMAN OF THE KAINAI RESERVE IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA. PORTRAIT IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED TO BE CHIEF GOOD STRIKER OF THE KAINAI RESERVE. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS. SHE DEVELOPED THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST, TWO GUN, WITH INFORMATION FROM CALGARY AND LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES AND RECORD P20130026000. 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. *UPDATE* IN 2015 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS. AT THIS TIME, IT WAS NOTED THAT THE WRITING ON THE BACKING OF THE PAINTING THAT WAS DESCRIBED AT THE TIME OF CATALOGING IS NO LONGER PRESENT, DUE TO THE BACKING PAPER BEING TORN AWAY. GIVEN THE ESTIMATED DATE OF THE PAINTING AND THE ELDERLY AGE OF THE SUBJECT AS DEPICTED BY THE ARTIST, THE "GOOD STRIKER" REFERRED TO ON THE LOST BACKING PAPER WOULD HAVE HAD TO BEEN BORN PRIOR TO THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY. NOTABLE BLOOD CHIEF RUFUS GOODSTRIKER (1924-2003) WAS NOT ELECTED HEAD CHIEF OF THE KAINAI NATION UNTIL 1964, THREE YEARS AFTER THE ARTIST'S DEATH. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE SUBJECT OF THIS PAINTING IS RUFUS' FATHER, FRANK GOODSTRIKER SR., FOR WHOM NO DATE OF BIRTH/DEATH OR FURTHER INFORMATION WAS FOUND.

Catalogue Number

P19910068000

Acquisition Date

1991-10

Collection

Museum

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