Blackfoot or not Blackfoot (concerning an old thread)

[Peter Rathgeb]

Hi all

I have recently bought the figure of a Blackfoot Blood Warrior in 75mm, by FeR (originally Elite).

As always when I buy a figure, I check what is said on PF, and in this case (thread from 2009!!) there was not only a presentation of the figure, but it was followed by a lengthy discussion, albeit without result:

https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/elite-miniatures-new-series-coming-soon.29393/

The discussion was if the figure represents a Blackfoot Blood...


(as per box art by José Hernández)

or a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux:


("private" version, also by José Hernández)

I would love to have the opinions of the more knowledgeable people here (after reading the thread I linked to ).

Thanks in advance and cheers,
Peter

 

[winfield]

The visual differences between warriors of different tribes during the same historical period lie mainly in small details. Hair styles are a big indicator of tribal association, but obviously that is not a help with this figure. Moccasin styles are also a telling detail, but again no help with this one. Besides, there was trade in such items, so no telling if the shoes were original to that warrior and his tribe or not. War paint sometimes is an indicator, but since that is an individual expression, tribes living in the same broadly general geographic locations tend to have access to only the same materials for their paint. An exception is the Comanche, who reportedly used duck excrement to achieve a blue color. Not sure about that one, but it sounds cool. Tribes have different motivations for using specific colors for their paint, but again there is a lot of overlap. The historical record for all of this consists primarily of European exploration and recording of the tribes, the voices of the those who interacted with them, and finally those warriors themselves. Pretty thin stuff, at least what I have read. I do not mean to say that I am an expert on any of this, but as a native of Montana, the plains wars have fascinated me forever. I read constantly, so it is inevitable that some of it sticks, even to my teflon brain. Hope this is a little bit relevant and helpful.

 

[Peter Rathgeb]

Thank you, Steve! It is both relevant and helpful.

Cheers,
Peter