Winter Count

Winter counts are pictorial, sequential histories created within a number of Plains tribes. Each image—symbol, object, figure or scene—represents an event by which an entire year, or winter, is counted and recorded in the history of the group. Framed within rectangles and organized as an inward-turning spiral, these images served as a memory aid for the keeper of the count, who could recite the history they represented to others. In this way, all important personal and tribal events were recalled and placed in time relative to what had been documented in the images. The keeper’s narrative, an oral tradition, was an essential component in relating the meaning of each drawing. This count spans the years 1826 to 1902.