The San Juan Basin Archaeological Society invites the public to a presentation.

At 6:30 we will have social time. Then after a brief business meeting, we will have a presentation by Dr. James Keyser of the Oregon Archaeological Society. Dr. Keyser will discuss "War Paint: Biographic Art Painted on Plains War Horses".

Plains Indians drew Biographic art documenting their war honors on a wide variety of media, from cliffs, to buffalo robes, to tipi covers and clothing. The medium that has received the least attention is their war horses. Through investigating the ethnographic literature and photographs, James has discovered dozens of historic photographs and other literature that show the ways various tribes created their "Biographic Horses." Tribes using this method to announce their war deeds include Blackfoot, Stoney, Gros Ventres, Hidatsa, Flathead, Crow, and Lakota. Images range from illustrations of specific deeds of bravery to shorthand symbols demonstrating a warrior's courage. Program James D. Keyser is a Montana native who earned his Ph.D in anthropology from the University of Oregon in 1977. Keyser has conducted rock art research across western North America and in Europe. He has more than 100 rock art publications and is the author of seven books on the subject, including Indian Rock Art of the Columbia Plateau (1992). He was an Assistant Professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo and the University of Tulsa before he retired from the U.S. Forest Service. He now conducts research for the Indigenous Cultures Preservation Society.

For log-in information go to SJBAS.ORG