MS 1984-26 Lithographs from History of the Indian Tribes of North America
odd: label: Local Numbers
content: NAA MS 1984-26

INV 08820100
INV 08820200
INV 08820300
INV 08820400
INV 09123200
INV 09123300
name: label: Creator
content: McKenney, Thomas L. (Thomas Loraine), 1785-1859
label: Creator
content: Hall, James, 1793-1868
place: label: Place
content: North America
creator: label: Creator
content: McKenney, Thomas L. (Thomas Loraine), 1785-1859
label: Creator
content: Hall, James, 1793-1868
culture: label: Culture
content: Sac and Fox (Sauk & Fox)
label: Culture
content: Sioux
label: Culture
content: Fox
label: Culture
content: Iowa
label: Culture
content: Sauk
label: Culture
content: Shawnee
label: Culture
content: Seminole
label: Culture
content: Ho-Chunk (Winnebago)
bioghist: label: Historical Note
content: Painter Charles Bird King was commissioned by Thomas Loraine McKenney, superintendent of Indian trade (1816-1822) and later the superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (1824-1830), to create a government collection of portraits of prominent American Indians visiting Washington, D.C. The portraits were reproduced as hand-colored lithographs and published in McKenney and James Hall's three volume work, History of the Indian Tribes of North America. The first volume was published in 1837, with the last volume published in 1844. The paintings, which were transferred to the Smithsonian in 1858, were on display in the museum when they were destroyed in a fire in 1865. Only a few were rescued from the fire. Consequently, the McKenney and Hall lithographs are the only records of King's portraits.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 11 Lithographs (color, approximately 20 x 14 inches)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1836-1844
label: Date
content: 1965
container: label: Container
content: Folder 1
label: Container
content: Folder 2
label: Container
content: Folder 3
label: Container
content: Folder 4
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: At least four of the lithographs were hanging in Room 59-A in the Natural History building until 1976.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.MS1984-26
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Graphic Materials
label: Type
content: Lithographs
label: Type
content: Works of art
label: Type
content: Portraits
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Works of art
label: Genre/Form
content: Lithographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Portraits
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of eleven (11) color lithographs from History of the Indian Tribes of North America by Thomas L. McKenney and James Hall. The lithographs in this set depict:

1. Chon-Mon-I-Case, an Otto Half Chief

2. Ma-Has-Kah or White Cloud, an Ioway Chief

3. Micanopy, a Seminole Chief

4. Naw-Kaw, a Winnebago Chief

5. Nea-Math-La, a Seminole Chief

6. Ne Sou A Quot, a Fox Chief

7. Qu-Ta-Wa-Pea, a Shawnee Chief

8. Thayendanegea, the Great Captain of Six Nations

9. Wakechai, a Saukie Chief

10. Wa-Na-Ta, Grand Chief of the Sioux

11. Wa-Pel-La, Chief of the Musquakees. 


Ten portraits are original hand-colored lithographs, while the lithograph of Wa-Pel-La is a reprint from 1965.

Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.