Eagle Dance

George Catlin, Eagle Dance, 1845-1848, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.386,440
Copied George Catlin, Eagle Dance, 1845-1848, oil on canvas, 26 1832 58 in. (66.482.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.386,440
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Artwork Details

Title
Eagle Dance
Date
1845-1848
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
26 1832 58 in. (66.482.8 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Western
  • Ceremony — dance — Eagle Dance
  • Ceremony — Indian
  • Indian — Sauk and Fox
  • Indian — Iowa
  • Architecture Exterior — domestic — teepee
Object Number
1985.66.386,440

Artwork Description

“THE CHOCTAWS. Of fifteen thousand, are another tribe, removed from the Northern parts of Alabama, and Mississippi, within the few years past, and now occupying a large and rich tract of country, South of the Arkansas and the Canadian rivers; adjoining to the country of the Creeks and the Cherokees, equally civilized, and living much in the same manner . . . The Eagle Dance, a very pretty scene, which is got up by their young men, in honour of that bird, for which they seem to have a religious regard.” (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 49, 1841; reprint 1973)