by Margaret Moore
MAIN PAGE ⎔ SECTION PAGE ⎔ SITE MAP ⎔ GLOSSARY
ART OF THE LOUNGE
AHWAHNEEE HOTEL ⎔ BOG OAK ⎔ COOPER’S HAWK ⎔ GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL ⎔ HOUND IN FIELD ⎔ IRISH SETTER ⎔ TATÂNGA MÂNÎ PORTRAIT
APPEARANCE
Same as Hound in Field.
21:11-21:23; 59:38
IDENTITY
Tatânga Mânî (Walking Buffalo, AKA George McLean–his adoptive name; 1871-1967) was a Stoney chief of the Bearspaw clan.
Margaret Moore (1913-2010) was an Alberta-based artist who traveled “many miles” with her husband to paint portraits of indigenous leaders. Her obituary makes her sound like a great lover of the natural world, and her commitment to the First Nations community sounds profound.
SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE
Among other things, Mânî witnessed the extinction of the buffalo, his namesake, and sure enough, that’s (almost) what Jack’s throwing the tennis ball at not long after the one time we see this image: a stuffed bison head (next to an indigenous mural, no less).
And while many of his life’s events feel noteworthy, check out this detail from the Alberta Champions website, about his life in 1958 (the year Hound in Field was painted): “In 1958 at the age of 87, Walking Buffalo did not feel he was too old to take on a whole new purpose for his life. He decided to work for change in the world through a change in people and started with the change needed in his own life. Letting go of his underlying hate and bitterness toward white people was the first step and it freed him to move forward to fulfill that new purpose. Describing the experience he said “As an Indian, I might have had great reason for hatred, but now I know that even I can forgive those who have wronged me.”“
Since a major subtext of The Shining is about walking the middle path, finding balance to your life, and balancing the many dualities that make up life, Mânî practically sounds like a Jedi master at the top of his practice, here. But that’s a matter of perspective – I could also see some regarding his many calls for peace and brotherhood as giving in too much to those who did indeed wrong him, and the natural world along with him.
Speaking of which, there’s a second portrait of a chief from the same band as Walking Buffalo: Chief Bear Paw. And my realization that Jack is clubbed by Wendy overtop Walking Buffalo…
…and that Hallorann is axed to death directly under Chief Bear Paw, is what lead me to realize one of the most complex theories my research has revealed.
It’s worth noting here that Jack has a certain minotaur quality to him, so it’s apt, perhaps that a “buffalo” chief should underwrite his downfall, while a “bear” chief should overwrite the downfall of one of Danny’s protectors.
Also, this piece appears only in conjunction with a Colville painting, and I have a theory about how the Colville Indian Reservation is a likely subtext at play here.
Next art reference: Jackson Hole Poster?
MAIN PAGE ⎔ SECTION PAGE ⎔ SITE MAP ⎔ GLOSSARY
OTHER MAIN PAGES FOR SHINING ANALYSIS
THE MIRRORFORM ⎔ THE BEATLES ⎔ THE RUM AND THE RED
BACKGROUND ART ⎔ OVERLOOK PHOTOGRAPHS ⎔ GOLDEN SPIRALS
PHI GRIDS ⎔ PATTERNS ⎔ VIOLENCE AND INDIGENA ⎔ ABSURDITIES
THE STORY ROOM ⎔ ANIMAL SYMBOLS ⎔ THE ANNOTATED SHINING
EYE SCREAM 