Hand-tinted stereograph, T. W. Ingersoll [?], c. 1899, 8.9 x 17.8 cm. 

Native American Indian man (wearing hat, vest, jacket, pants, and cravat) holding pony and looking up with hand pointing toward sky.  Next to him is another man (wearing loincloth, red sash, red headband, and white cloth around neck) standing barefoot with legs crossed and hands on hips.  People milling around in background. 

On front: “475.  Sioux Indian Rider Making Good Medicine Before the Race.” 

On back: “‘Oh, Black Hawk!  attend me today;  Flutter thy wings in the eyes of my competitors and bear me to the swift Victory.’  After this fashion the Indian rider who is shown in the right foreground, through the medicine man holding the pony, appeals to his ‘medicine’ for success in the race in which he is about to engage.  Every Indian, old or young, has what he calls his ‘medicine,’ typified in some peculiar manner.  What his ‘medicine’ shall be is revealed to him by the gods in early youth and ever after he looks upon the particular thing with awe and reverence and consults it upon every occasion of importance.  In this particular case a Black Hawk is the sign upon which the rider depends for victory and he considers it a good omen that just before the race in which he is about to engage, a hawk is seen soaring about above the encampment.  This picture was taken near agency headquarters, which accounts for the presence of the white children in the background.  A8835”