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George Catlin
Comanche Village, Women Dressing Robes and Drying Meat
1834–35
oil
20 x 27 1/4 in.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.

Comanche women dry buffalo meat for the winter months and stretch the hides, which might be used for warm clothing, wigwams, or sale to the fur companies “for white man's luxury.” Catlin hastily sketched this small segment of the village, which actually consisted of six to eight hundred “skin-covered lodges” housing thousands. Today the Comanche reside in southwestern Oklahoma.>/p>