Hongs-káy-dee, Great Chief, Son of The Smoke

George Catlin, Hongs-káy-dee, Great Chief, Son of The Smoke, 1832, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.97
Copied George Catlin, Hongs-káy-dee, Great Chief, Son of The Smoke, 1832, oil on canvas, 29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.97
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Artwork Details

Title
Hongs-káy-dee, Great Chief, Son of The Smoke
Artist
Date
1832
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Portrait male — Great Chief
  • Indian — Ponca
Object Number
1985.66.97
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.97

Artwork Description

George Catlin described Great Chief, son of the Ponca chief the Smoke, as a “youth of eighteen years . . . [who] distinguished himself in a singular manner the day before our steamer reached their village, by taking to him four wives in one day! This extraordinary and unprecedented freak of his, was just the thing to make him the greatest sort of medicine in the eyes of his people; and probably he may date much of his success and greatness through life, to this bold and original step, which suddenly raised him into notice and importance.” Catlin painted Great Chief at a Ponca village in 1832. (Catlin, Letters and Notes , vol. 1, no. 26, 1841; reprint 1973)