A painter of Native American figures and genre as these subjects would appear in everyday life, David Mann does extensive research on the clothing and background objects of his subject matter but does not show actual historical events. Most of his Plains Indians are placed in the context of the mid to late 19th century before they were moved to reservations and could practice the rituals of their culture.

Mann was inspired by this subject matter from the time he was a child and had a book illustrated by Alfred Jacob Miller, pioneering painter of western subjects. He was also inspired by Frank McCarthy illustrations he saw in "Life" magazine. Then as a young Mormon church missionary, he was assigned to Indian reservations in the South...