Old Arrow Maker

Copied Edmonia Lewis, Old Arrow Maker, modeled 1866, marble, 21 1⁄2 x 13 5⁄8 x 13 3⁄8 in. (54.5 x 34.5 x 34.0 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Robbins, 1983.95.179
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Old Arrow Maker
Artist
Date
modeled 1866
Location
Dimensions
21 1⁄2 x 13 5⁄8 x 13 3⁄8 in. (54.5 x 34.5 x 34.0 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Robbins
Mediums
Mediums Description
marble
Classifications
Subjects
  • Object — game — deer
  • Occupation — craft — arrow maker
  • Dress — Indian dress
  • Indian
  • Figure group
Object Number
1983.95.179
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1983.95.179

Artwork Description

Old Arrow Maker depicts a scene from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem The Song of Hiawatha (1855). This poem relies on romanticized tropes about Native peoples' lifeways as incompatible with modern life. Edmonia Lewis, an Afro-Indigenous artist who was raised by her Mississauga maternal aunts, capitalized on the broad appeal of Longfellow's poem. Longfellow was an abolitionist, and his work was popular among the same people who were Lewis's primary patrons.

Label text from The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture November 8, 2024 -- September 14, 2025