Warner, trained as a sculptor in the classical style in Paris, made several trips to Portland, Oregon, to work on a set of portraits of Northwest Indians, whom he modeled from life at nearby Columbia River reservations. Almost as soon as the final Indian wars concluded in the late 1870s, Americans began to see native cultures from a different perspective. Instead of obstacles to progress and settlement, they became subjects of nostalgia and regret. Warner's dignified portrayals of six admired individuals express this significant shift in approach.