Pride of the Piegan
$1,800.00
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About Transferring the Bear Knife
"Among the Blackfoot people of old," says artist Z. S. Liang, "the power of the Bear Knife was legendary. It was believed to be so powerful that it could immobilize an enemy with fear at the sight of a warrior holding it! The warrior entrusted with the knife had to prove himself worthy of it, even during the ceremonial transfer."
American Museum of Natural History anthropologist Clark Wissler describes the object as " . . . a large dagger-like knife, to the handle of which was attached the jaws of a bear . . . which the recipient must catch when violently thrown at him . . . ." As a rule, the 'keeper' could not use any other weapon when going into battle. During the winter months the sacred knife would sleep wrapped securely in its bundle. The unwrapping ceremony was given with the coming of spring, coinciding with the time when bears emerged from hibernation.
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Artist Signature
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This piece is artist signed and includes a Certificate of Authenticity.
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Image copyright © 2026 by Z.S. Liang.
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Z.S. Liang, born in China in 1953 and raised in a family of artists, published his first painting at age 6 in a children's magazine. His art education spanned two continents, beginning at the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing and continuing to the Massachusetts College of Art and Boston University. His award-winning paintings hang in both corporate and private collections around the world and several of his murals are permanently on display in New York City. His works are in corporate and private collections throughout the United States and many other countries, including Sheraton Corporation, Marriott Corporation, Weseda University Tokyo and the West Point Museum. Among the many awards Liang has received are the Best of Show and People's Choice at the American Society of Portrait Artists, the Arthur Ross Award for Painting at the Classical America New York, and the Lila Acheson Wallace Award for Painting at the Society of American Illustrators. Liang's paintings have been featured in the Artist's Magazine and the International Artists.
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