Wildlife Artist Dawn Senior-Trask of Moonhorse Art Studio
1-307-327-5381

bronze plaques

Petroglyphs - Native American-inspired bronze plaque

Dawn Senior-Trask, of Moonhorse Art Studio, has a unique way of looking at the memories and culture of the West. Her artwork, especially her bronze plaques, are a unique way of looking at the memories and culture of the West -- memories and reflections of the lifestyles this western artist has experienced during the many years she has lived in a log cabin near Saratoga, Wyoming.

As evidenced in her bronze plaques, Dawn is greatly influenced by Native American art. She lived among the Navaho and Hopi on the Arizona deserts for five years as a teenager, and has also spent time on the Rosebud and Wind River Reservations with the Lakota, and Arapaho tribes. Native American legends and Native American myth are a great inspiration on her artwork, especially her oil paintings.

Contact us to order this Native American-inspired bronze plaque.

Petroglyphs - Native American-inspired bronze plaque

Dawn's Native American-inspired bronze plaque illustrates the impact of Native American legend and Native American myth on her artwork.

Size:
Price Unmounted: $205
Price Mounted: $242
Price Mounted & Framed: $265
Shipping:

* Bronze plaques are not kept in stock, but are cast as they are ordered.  Because of the long-wax process that involves many steps, the wait for bronze plaques may be several months. Please contact us for more information.

More information about this Native American-inspired bronze plaque below.

Many of the spectacular rock art sites in Wyoming are attributed to the ancient Shoshone, especially the Mountain Shoshones, or Tukadika -- the Sheep Eaters. The Tukadika lived in the greater Yellowstone area and the mountain ranges of western Wyoming since the end of the last ice age, at least 9,000 years ago. Supremely adapted to their rugged homeland, the Tukadika migrated with the herds of deer, elk, and bighorn sheep, living at high elevations in summer and in the sheltered foothills in winter. The Tukadika used nets and sheep traps to capture their main food source, the bighorn sheep. A large net, discovered on a mountain ledge near Cody, was made of twisted juniper bark. When rolled out, the net would be at least 50 meters long and about 2 meters tall. This net has been carbon dated to about 8,000 years ago.

The Tukadika made their sheep traps out of logs, tree trunks, rocks, brush, and other materials found in the area. The Tukadika placed these traps along the migration routes of the bighorn sheep. The hunters and their dogs would haze the sheep along the drivelines which slowly narrowed to funnel the sheep directly into the trap.

Contact us to order this Native American-inspired bronze plaque.

The Tukadika made bowls, cooking and storage pots, and mortars out of steatite (soapstone), which they quarried in the mountains, and they made arrow and spear points and other tools from the obsidian outcrops they found in the Yellowstone area. They made incredibly strong bows from the horns of bighorn rams. In a process that took several months, they soaked two horns in a hot springs or geyser, which softened the horns so they could straighten them. They shaved the horns, using the shavings to make a natural glue, then fitted the two horns together using a tongue-and-groove method. When finished, these bows, it was said, could shoot an arrow right through a bighorn sheep or even a buffalo.

Contact us to order this Native American-inspired bronze plaque.

The Tukadika petroglyphs are considered some of the most elaborate and mysterious rock art, made by pecking on soft rock, such as sandstone, with antlers or a harder rock. The style of the Tukadika is called “Dinwoody”, or “Interior Line”. Though hard to date, they appear to range in age from over 3,000 to just a few hundred years old. Some sites are very large, containing hundreds of petroglyphs that are found over an area of three or four miles, and other sites are small with just a handful of petroglyphs. Shoshone traditions tell about “sky people” with thunderbirds, owls, and hummingbirds that had special powers, such as the ability to bring rain or help people find things. “Ground people” also had power. The Elk, depicted in the petroglyph Dawn used as the model for this bronze plaque, symbolized stamina. Elk are often shown in groups or pairs in rock art. Some Tukadika petroglyphs depict the “water people”, or “water ghosts“, especially active in hot springs, rivers and lakes. The water ghosts could be male or female, and Water Ghost Woman, Pa Waip, was especially fearsome, said to wail to attract men to the water for lovemaking, where she would drown them. On the other hand, people who had Pa Waip’s power could cure epilepsy and similar ailments.

If you would like more information on our artwork or would like to place an order, email Moonhorse Art Studio or call us 307.327.5381. We look forward to hearing from you!