Sioux Dog Feast

George Catlin, Sioux Dog Feast, 1832-1837, oil on canvas, 24 x 29 in. (60.9 x 73.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.494

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Artwork Details

Title: Sioux Dog Feast
Artist: George Catlin
Date: 1832-1837
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
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2nd Floor
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South Wing
Dimensions: 24 x 29 in. (60.9 x 73.7 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Mediums: oil
Mediums Description: oil on canvas
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Architecture Interior — domestic — teepee
Ceremony — Indian — Dog Feast
Indian — Sioux
Indian — Dakota
Recreation — leisure — eating and drinking
Western
Figure group — male
Object Number: 1985.66.494
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.494

Artwork Description

George Catlin participated in a Sioux Indian ceremony of friendship at which a meal of dog meat was the center of the event. He explained the significance of this meal in his journal: "This feast was unquestioningly given to us as the most undoubted evidence they could give of their friendship. Knowing the spirit in which it was given, we could not but treat it respectfully, and receive it as anything but a high and marked compliment. The dog feast is truly a religious ceremony. The Indian sees fit to sacrifice his faithful companion to bear testimony to the sacredness of his vows of friendship."