Winter counts are a method of chronology or history that appears to have been invented by the Plains tribal people. Lone-Dog's winter count is the first one known to Western scholars.

According to Lone-Dog, each winter a tribal council would meet and decide upon some event that would commemorate the year. The keeper of the winter count would then draw some device or glyph that illustrated the event in some way. Initially, winter counts were kept on a buffalo robe, but the use of cloth was adopted later for some winter counts. Some Native people kept their own winter counts in ledgers.

On occasion, the official winter count was displayed to the people of the tribe and the meaning of each glyph described.

In the Dakota language winter count is wan´iyetu wo´wapi.

Reference:

Mallery, Garrick. Picture-Writing of the American Indians. New York: Dover. 1972.

Click on the images below to see large versions of each. The Hunkpapa and Lone-Dog winter counts are presented with a detailed timeline describing each glyph.

This Hunkpapa winter count was drawn on a muslin "tipi liner" and is accompanied with an interpretation by Long Soldier, a member of Oglala. The glyphs represent 105 years of Lakota history, 1798 - 1902. They begin in the upper left corner and spiral in clockwise to the center. It is approximately 4 X 2 feet in dimension.

Lone-Dog's winter count is drawn on a buffalo robe. It covers seventy years of Yanktonais Dakota history, from 1800-’01 to 1870-’71. The glyphs begin in the center and spiral outward in a counterclockwise procession.

Some winter counts will commemorate one important event. This painting on muslin illustrates the ghost dance and the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. It is approximately 4 X 2.5 feet in dimension.