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Natives Speak


Kotz-a tó-ah, Smoked Shield, a Distinguished Warrior See the Native American documentary Momaday: Voice of the West at the Renwick Gallery today.

N. Scott Momaday, a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, storyteller, and educator, shares his knowledge of Plains Indian culture in this 30-minute film on view beginning at 1:00 P.M.

A portrait of one of Momaday's Kiowa ancestors appears in our special exhibition George Catlin and His Indian Gallery. Catlin described Smoked Shield as "another of the extraordinary men of this tribe, near seven feet in stature, and distinguished, not only as one of the greatest warriors, but the swiftest on foot, in the nation. This man, it is said, runs down a buffalo on foot, and slays it with his knife or his lance, as he runs by its side." Catlin painted this artwork at the Comanche village in 1834.

The Renwick Gallery is located at Pennsylvania Avenue and 17th Street N.W., across the street from the White House. Please see our program calendar for more events.

Source: William H. Truettner. The Natural Man Observed: A Study of Catlin's Indian Gallery (Washington, D.C.: The Smithsonian Institution Press in cooperation with the Amon Carter Museum and The National Collection of Fine Arts, 1979).

Pictured: George Catlin, 1796–1872, Kotz-a tó-ah, Smoked Shield, a Distinguished Warrior, 1834, oil, 29 x 24 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.