Russell’s depiction of a Blackfoot medicine man is extraordinarily sensitive. Seemingly in a trance, the medicine man chants his song of spiritual healing. He wears an eagle bone whistle tied into his hair. His hand drum, beautifully detailed in the bronze, is decorated with a stylized buffalo head—a “medicine animal” in Blackfoot culture. Walter McClintock, who lived among the Piegan Blackfeet for four years beginning in 1896 and published a valuable account of his day-to-day experiences with the tribe, described a time when he was called upon to assist a medicine man named Awunna. McClintock described Awunna’s eagle-bone whistle and painted hand drum, which were supposed “to bring power in doctoring the sick.” As Awunna sat next to the patient, his head thrown back, he rhythmically beat the drum and sang with his eyes closed, praying for power from the eagle. Then, “grasping a large eagle wing, he imitated the motions of an eagle flying, and beat the wing against the patient’s body,” McClintock wrote. In the bronze, the medicine man’s hand drum is decorated with eagle feathers, and across his right knee are symbols of his medicine—an otter skin, a wolf skull, and a bear’s claw. The otter is cunning, the wolf smart, and the bear is strong; such attributes would give the medicine man his greatest power. This bronze represents one of six models that Russell created during his first visit to Southern California in late 1920 or early 1921. It was first exhibited at the Kanst Art Galleries in Los Angeles in March 1922. The bronze proved to be very popular among buyers. During Russell’s lifetime, the bronze was exhibited a number of times and offered at a price of $165 or $300 a pair, to be used as bookends. At present, at least eighteen examples of this bronze have been identified in public and private collections.