A Caution to Snakes

Setting the stage for the Wounded Knee Massacre.

This jingoistic woodcut was based on a sketch by the talented Linley Sambourne and originally published in the December 6th, 1890 issue of Punch, or the London Charivari. This particular example was issued the following year in a commemorative annual volume.

At the time, the Ghost Dance movement was sweeping through the Plains Indians, telling of a prophecy in which Jesus Christ returns as a Native American to liberate his people and return the buffalo (then deliberately hunted almost to extinction). The religion’s popularity was seen as a threat by the U.S. government and they sought to quell the unrest by any means necessary.

Sambourne’s image advocates the use of violence. It depicts a rattlesnake in a headdress threatening a fearful Columbia, ready to draw her pistol against the danger. An accompanying poem concludes, “Armed once again, Columbia stands, and who’d arrest avenging hands, must challenge – Civilization.” Sambourne’s predictions (hopes?) would ultimately come true. Less than a week after the comic was published, U.S. Army officers botched the arrest of Sitting Bull, leading to his death and, later, the Wounded Knee Massacre.