Symbols of Power
Check out this artifact from our exhibition George Catlin and His Indian Gallery. Pictograms on native shirts describe a warrior's achievements, thereby generating awe and respect for tribal leaders.
Artist George Catlin traversed the Great Plains in the 1830s and painted Native American people and customs. He then created an Indian Gallery that toured the United States and Europe. Catlin's show included hundreds of paintings as well as Native American artifacts, such as lacrosse sticks, flutes, and cradleboards.
Occasionally, Catlin acquired his sitters' clothing to exhibit in the Indian Gallery as proof of the accuracy of his art. His greatest prize was a shirt given to him by the Mandan chief Four Bears, "with the history of his battles emblazoned on it." The shirt seen here resembles the one worn by Four Bears in the portrait [below], but it was probably fabricated by Catlin, not the Mandan chief. The artist may have raided his collection for a period skin and the bands of Cree quillwork sewn on the shoulders; he also probably painted the crude pictographs himself. Whether (and how) Catlin lost Four Bears's shirt is unknown, but he seems to have felt that he needed to include a substitute in his exhibitions.
Find out about Plains Indian leadership in our online presentation Campfire Stories with George Catlin: An Encounter of Two Cultures. In the "Chiefs and Leaders" theme, see a gallery of notable Indian portraits painted by George Catlin. At the multimedia campfire, listen to commentary by George Horse Capture, an assistant director with the National Museum of the American Indian; Alyce Spotted Bear, a leader in tribal government; and others!
Source: Joan Troccoli. George Catlin and His Indian Gallery (exhibition text, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2002).
Pictured top: Man's Shirt; 1830s–40s; hide, rabbit skin, porcupine quills, sinew, beads, human hair, pigment; Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., Catalogue no. 386,505.
Pictured bottom: George Catlin, 1796-1872, Máh-to-tóh-pah, Four Bears, Second Chief, in Full Dress (Mandan/Numakiki), 1832, oil, 29 x 24 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr .
Check out this artifact from our exhibition George Catlin and His Indian Gallery. Pictograms on native shirts describe a warrior's achievements, thereby generating awe and respect for tribal leaders.
Artist George Catlin traversed the Great Plains in the 1830s and painted Native American people and customs. He then created an Indian Gallery that toured the United States and Europe. Catlin's show included hundreds of paintings as well as Native American artifacts, such as lacrosse sticks, flutes, and cradleboards.