19th-Century Native American Women by George Catlin 1796-1872

George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) A Choctaw Woman


As a child growing up in Pennsylvania, Catlin spent many hours looking for American Indian artifacts. His fascination with Native Americans was kindled by his mother, who told him stories of the Western Frontier & how she was captured by a tribe when she was a young girl. Following a brief career as a lawyer, he produced 2 major collections of paintings of American Indians & published a series of books chronicling his travels among native peoples. Claiming his interest in America’s "vanishing race" was sparked by a visiting American Indian delegation in Philadelphia, he set out to record America’s native people.  Catlin began his journey in 1830, when he accompanied General William Clark on a diplomatic mission up the Mississippi River into Native American territory.  During later trips along the Arkansas, Red & Mississippi rivers, as well as visits to Florida & the Great Lakes, he produced more than 500 paintings.  When Catlin returned east in 1838, he assembled  his Indian Gallery, & began delivering public lectures.  In 1841, Catlin published Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians, in two volumes, with about 300 engravings. Three years later he published 25 plates, entitled Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio, and, in 1848, Eight Years’ Travels and Residence in Europe. From 1852 to 1857, he traveled through South & Central America and later returned for further exploration in the Far West as recorded in Last Rambles amongst the Indians of the Rocky Mountains & the Andes (1868) & My Life among the Indians (1909). The nearly complete surviving set of Catlin’s Indian Gallery painted in the 1830s is now part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection. Some 700 sketches are in the American Museum of Natural History, New York City.


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) A'h-tee-wát-o-mee, a Woman


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Ah'-kay-ee-pix-en, Woman Who Strikes Many


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) A Seminole Woman 1838


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Assiniboin Woman and Child


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Chee-a-ex-e-co, Daughter of Deer without a Heart 1838


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) A Comanche family outside their teepee, 1841


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Chin-cha-pee, Fire Bug That Creeps, Wife of Pigeon's Egg Head


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Du-cór-re-a, Chief of the Tribe, and His Family


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Eeh-nís-kim, Crystal Stone, Wife of the Chief


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Pshán-shaw, Sweet-scented Grass, Twelve-year-old Daughter of Bloody Hand


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Hón-je-a-pút-o, Wife of Bear-catcher


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Hee-láh-dee, Pure Fountain, Wife of The Smoke


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Jú-ah-kís-gaw, Woman With Her Child in a Cradle


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Kah-béck-a, The Twin, Wife of Bloody Hand


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Koon-za-ya-me, Female War Eagle


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Káh-kée-tsee, Thighs, a Wichita Woman


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Kay-a-gís-gis, a Young Woman


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Mee-chéet-e-neuh, Wounded Bear's Shoulder, Wife of the Chief


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Mi-néek-ee-súnk-te-ka, Mink, a Beautiful Girl


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Mong-shóng-sha, Bending Willow, Wife of Great Chief


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Chée-ah-ká-tchée, Wife of Nót-to-way


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Mún-ne-o-ye, a Woman


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Seet-sé-be-a, Midday Sun, a Pretty Girl


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Oó-je-en-á-he-a, Woman Who Lives in a Bear's Den


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Ru-ton-ye-wee-ma, Strutting Pigeon, Wife of White Cloud


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Sha-kó-ka, Mint, a Pretty Girl


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Tchón-su-móns-ka, Sand Bar, Wife of the Trader François Chardon


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Shé-de-ah, Wild Sage, a Wichita Woman


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Tís-se-wóo-na-tís, She Who Bathes Her Knees, Wife of the Chief


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Tchow-ee-pút-o-kaw, a Woman


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Tsee-moúnt, Great Wonder, Carrying Her Baby in Her Robe


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Tow-ée-ka-wet, a Cree Woman


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Túnk-aht-óh-ye, Thunderer, a Boy, and Wun-pán-to-mee, White Weasel, a Girl


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Two Comanche Girls


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Wah-pe-séh-see, Mother of the Chief


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Wáh-chee-te, Wife of Cler-mónt, and Child


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Wife of The Six


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Wa-quóth-e-qua, The Buck's Wife, Wife of the Whale


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Wife of Two Crows


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Woman and Child, Showing How the Heads of Children are Flattened


George Catlin (American artist, 1796-1872) Wi-lóoh-tah-eeh-tcháh-ta-máh-nee, Red Thing That Touches in Marching, Daughter of Black Rock