Featured in this lot is this cabinet card titled "Sioux Indian Burial Tree," by S.W. Ormsby out of Wolf Point, Mont. and circa 1897. Provenance: From an Ex-Museum collection out of Eastern Montana; Ex-Heritage Auction. The cabinet card features a wonderfully and professionally crafted construction that shows a 'Burial Tree". Indian burial trees, sometimes called “burial scaffold trees,” were used by certain Native American tribes, particularly on the Great Plains and in parts of the Midwest and Southeast, as elevated resting places for the deceased. Before European-style ground burials became widespread, some tribes placed bodies in the forks or platforms of tall trees, often wrapped in hides or blankets, to protect them from scavengers and flooding while allowing the spirit to journey on. These trees, sometimes chosen for their height, prominence, or proximity to water, became sacred landmarks. Over time, wind, weather, and the tree’s own growth would return the remains to the earth, blending natural and spiritual processes in accordance with tribal beliefs about life, death, and the afterlife. S. W. Ormsby (American, active c. 1900) maintained a photography studio at the Wolf Point Agency at the Fort Peck Assiniboine Reservation in Montana. His work is seldom encountered and at present little is known of his life and activities apart from the evidence of the relatively few photographs that have come to light. examples of a collection of 15 sold through McBride Rare Books for $19,500.00. The condition of this S.W. Ormsby cabinet card is well preserved with some wear to the front of the cabinet card and some hand written scribbles on the back of the cabinet card with browning to its base consistent with age but otherwise shows a well preserved overall condition. The measurements of this cabinet card is 5" x 8". The collective weight of this cabinet card is U4oz.