Fun Historical Facts and Giveaway

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Howdy!  And welcome to another awesome Tuesday!

Recently, I decided to redo the cover for Book #1 in the Medicine Man Series.  I’d asked my cover artist if she might consider doing a cover with the image of the hairstyles of the American Iindians on the Plains in the 1830’s.  Book #1 is set in the 1830’s (SHE STEALS MY BREATH) and so I thought I’d ask because my cover artist is really an artist and she often draws things on my covers by hand (with online tools).

So let me first take you back to the 1830’s in an area of the country known as INDIAN TERRITORY.  George Catlin, as well as Karl Bodmer (accompanying  Prince Maxmilian onto the Plains) made trips into the interior of the north country, and they left a record of their travels.  What I had always noticed about these paintings was that the men often changed their hair styles, while the women generally wore their hair in braids.  This doesn’t necessarily hold true for the more southern tribes, but when I look at the northern tribes, these men pretty much wore their hair in a similar manner

Here are two men from the Nez Perce tribe who lived on the western side of the Blackbone-of-the-world Mountains (the Rockies).  Catlin met these two men when he was on a steamboat.  Interestingly, both men were on a mission for their tribe to see out the “Black Robe” and ask him about his religion and invite him to come to their tribe.

To the right here is an Assiniboine Indian (the Assiniboine were located farther east and a little more north of Crow Indians in what we now know as Montana.

In the center here is a Lakota man and below that is a Cheyenne chief.  The same hairstyle held true for most of the Northern tribes during this period: The Blackfeet, the Crow and the Cree.

And so, because my cover artist is a real artist and sometimes paints different images into a particular image she is working with, I asked her if she might be able to do a cover showing this particular men’s hairstyle.

Cat022

Below is the result:

This is the cover that my cover artist created for me and I absolutely love it.

Many things I love about this cover, but outside of the image of the hero and the heroine, I love the sky and the mountains.  Montana is often called The Big Sky Country and so I love that this image also highlights the sky.

This first book is currently on sale for $.99 and my newest book (Just released) in the Medicine Man series is sale for $3.59 at Amazon.

Note the difference in hair style between the 1830’s and the 1879’s.  My newest book is set in the 1870’s and at this time we have a completely different hairstyle that the men are wearing…again, almost tribe to tribe a very similar hair style.  Some differences, but many things that are similar about them.   This fellow in the middle here is Blackfeet.  Note the braids and the hair is now almost straight up and parted on the side.

The Picture below is of a Crow man:  Note how similar the style is at this time period.

The same styles were seen in the Flathead and the Nez Perce tribes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so I now would like  you to see how my cover artist showed this particular hair style on my newest cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think both of these covers (that are new to me) are so very well done and show the different hair styles at this time in history.

What do you think?  Hope found this little bit of history interesting.

Both of these books are on sale:

SHE STEALS MY BREATH:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TNDS67H?tag=pettpist-20 — This book is on sale for $.99.

IF SHE WERE MINE:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GWY3P5KS?tag=pettpist-20 — This book is on sale at a 40% discount at $3.59.

Please come on in and leave a post.  I’ll be giving away a free copy of the book, SHE STEALS MY BREATH.

 

 

 

24 thoughts on “Fun Historical Facts and Giveaway”

  1. Another interesting post. The Native American in film is usually depicted with braids from a center part or the hair flowing freely. The subtle differences in styles over time between tribes is something most people have never considered. I have noticed in some artwork, but never really thought of it. It is another interesting way, like beadwork, designs, use of feathers, individuals could get important information about each other without exchanging a word. I am sure these differences were missed by many whites during the time period.

  2. Hi Patricia!

    I think you are so right. I find it fascinating that the tribes — even if they were enemies — all seemed to have the same hairstyle. There were subtle differences, of course, which the men and women of these tribes knew and so could recognize the tribe by their hairstyle, but they also could know what tribe it was based on their footprints. They could know other things, too…like if the person had a stomach ache or other things about the body. All these things showed up in their footprints — and incredible fact, I think.

  3. I never really thought about the hair styles and other styles followed. Thanks for the intriguing post.

    • Thank you so much, Debra! I find it fascinating, especially because these were enemy tribes. Yet, they one and all had the “same” hairstyle with different variations. : )

  4. What fascinating information. Thanks for enlightening us about Native American hairstyles. I’d always assumed braids… this really opened my mind.

  5. Thank you so much Nan! Yeah, before I had started writing, I’d thought the same thing…Hollywood influence probably. But, through different periods of time, they had different hairstyles. What I find amazing is that the women rarely changed their hair style. Generally it was parted down the middle and left loose or braided either over the ears or behind the ears…usually braided behind the ears if the girl was unmarried. But the men…gosh how they lavished themselves with all kinds of thing to probably catch the eye of the female. : )

  6. You really have worked hard to gather all this information and dedicated the covers to the period they were set in. Not many put this effort into the covers or books .Many hours of research are seen here.you even provide pictures to back up your word .Thank you for your dedication to such an informational blogg. I never gave hair styles much thought before but now I’m excited even more over these new covers I love them Thank you.

  7. Hi Linda!

    Thank you so much for your kind, kind words. As you might know, this really starts my day off with joy! Yes, I love the work that I do and I love finding out all these little things about our First Americans.

    • Fascinating, and puts an extra personal spin on the tribes. We tend to pay attention to the variety of fashions over the years for England and the U.S., but neglect other peoples, assuming “traditional” clothing remains unaltered. Clearly not so! I’ve recently begun to be aware of traditional European costumes evolving with fashion, as well. Thanks for sharing!

      • Hi Elissa!

        I bet it’s fascinating to look at the European costumes, as well. I have at least one book on the European costumes that changed so much in even a 10 year time span. I find it fascinating to learn about the American Indians who gave this country so much. Thanks for your post.

    • Hi Minna! I do, too. Do you find yourself getting lost in it sometimes? Fascinating to preserve that time period by his paintings and Karl Bodmer’s paintings, as well. Thanks for your post.

  11. Hi Kay,

    So sorry I’m late getting to your blog, too many things to do, and pain. Anyway I loved the blog, the styles of the Indian men was very fascinating! You always put 100% into your books and the research that goes into each story, that’s what is great about you! All the different pictures were fantastic, I loved them.

    I’m sure others out there appreciate how you write your stories too. You are a wonderful, dedicated Real Author, thank you for not using AI to write your books. Bless you Kay. Love You! ?

    Starr

    • Hi Denise!

      Believe it or not, I was wondering. I was going to message you over the weekend just to make sure all is well with you. : ) I’m so used to your almost always first post of the day…

      Thank you so much for your kind, kind words. Yes, I have some impact on the cover art, but it is really my cover artist that puts it all together. Her name is Dar, and she is very talented and most of all, she puts up with me. : )

  13. Hi Starr!

    Thank you very much for your kind and warmhearted words. You know I find that historical research to be like the icing on the cake and I wanted to show people why the men on my covers often have different hairstyles.

    Thank you again for your kind words.

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