Art, Law, and War: Exploring the Conditions of Plains Indian Cultural Heritage Against the Lieber Code Vision of Justice in Warfare
This paper looks to material culture to explore the discrepancies between the vision of the Lieber Code, a landmark legal document promoting tolerance and the protection of cultural heritage, and the realities Plains Indians faced following the Civil War. The Lieber Code, signed into law by Abraham Lincoln, was the first of its kind in history to codify the protection of personal and cultural property rights and to mandate respect towards enemy religious and social customs. It is credited with influencing the Hague and Geneva conventions of the 20th century. Yet the subsequent treatment of Native American personal belongings, sacred objects, and items of cultural significance demonstrates that the code was far from successful.
In considering the disparity of law and the conditions of material culture, this research focuses on three objects and two military events. The Ledger art of the Double Trophy Book removed from the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn illustrates the continued violence faced by Native Americans following the Lieber Code and treaties intended to protect Indian land. The existence of Ledger art itself represents Euro-American encroachment on Native American interests. The style evolved from hide painting--where Plains groups painted cultural subjects on the skins of Indigenous animals. Ledger art, in turn, reflected a shift in U.S.-Native relations over resources, as its materials were increasingly sourced from ledger books and other paper introduced by troops, missionaries, and reservation officials. Similarly, military scenes and other encounters with white people began to dominate its content.
Two important Native American garments and their history also evidence the gap between the Lieber Code and the treatment experienced by Native Americans. Sitting Bull’s leggings and Bigfoot’s buckskin shirt both reflect the Ghost Dance movement and its brutal end at the Massacre of Wounded Knee. The movement—simultaneously messianic, apocalyptic, and pacifist--emerged from a culture in crisis as Plains Indians continued to bear the consequences of an ignored Lieber Code. The removal of both items from the bodies of Native American leaders demonstrates the persistent interpretation of art as trophy in war and the failure of the Lieber Code to carry out its protection of people and heritage.