Portrait of Nana
odd: label: Local Numbers
content: NAA MS 363200

NAA INV 08526500

OPPS NEG 85-6500

USNM Accession Number 117644
label: Variant Title
content: Previously titled "Portrait of Nana Nanei."
name: label: Artist
content: Harmer, Alexander Francis, 1856-1925
label: Names
content: Nana, (Apache Chief), approximately 1806-1896
place: label: Place
content: North America
creator: label: Artist
content: Harmer, Alexander Francis, 1856-1925
culture: label: Culture
content: Chiricahua Apache
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Nana, also called Nanay, Na-na, Kas-tziden ("Broken Foot") or Haškɛnadɨltla ("Angry, He is Agitated"), (circa 1806- 1896) was a warrior of the Chihenne band of the Chiricahua Apache. Nana took part in numerous raids on Mexicans and Americans with Chiricahua leaders including Geronimo and Victorio.  In 1883 he surrendered to the American general George Crook and returned with his followers to the San Carlos reservation in Arizona. He and Geronimo escaped in 1885, but were recaptured in 1886. After being imprisoned at Fort Marion, Florida, Nana spent the last years of his life on the Chiricahua reservation at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
label: Biographical Note
content: Alexander Francis Harmer (1856–1925) was an American painter best known for his work in Southern California.  Harmer was born in Newark, New Jersey and began painting at an early age.  At 16 he joined the army, and was stationed in California. After a year he requested discharge on grounds of being underage, and worked as a photographic assistant before enrolling at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in 1874. He again enlisted in the army in 1881, and was assigned to Troop L of the Sixth Cavalry at Fort Apache, Arizona. During his time in the army, his unit pursued Geronimo and the Chiricahua Apache. He later returned to Pennsylvania Academy with his sketches of the Apaches which he developed into oils and watercolors.  He contributed illustrations to Harpers Weekly and other magazines, acquiring a reputation as a western artist.

Harmer moved to California in 1891. He married Felicidad Abadie, of a prominent Santa Barbara family, in 1893. The couple settled in the Abadie family residence, the Yorba-Abadie adobe, which became an artists' colony under their patronage.  During this period, Harmer began to paint portraits and genre scenes of the old missions of California.  He died in 1925 in Santa Barbara.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Drawings (visual works) (watercolor, 7 x 10.25 inches)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1883 May
container: label: Container
content: Box 342297 / 363200, Folder 2
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: The collection was donated to the Smithsonian Institution by Georgia Gatewood, widow of Lt. Charles B. Gatewood, January 8, 1932 (Accession 117,644.).  It was transferred from the object collections of the Department of Anthropology to the National Anthropological Archives in July 1969.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.MS363200
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Graphic Materials
label: Type
content: Drawings (visual works)
label: Type
content: Works of art
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Watercolors
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Works of art
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Watercolors
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of a portrait of Nana by Alexander Francis Harmer.  The portrait is inscribed: "From a sketch from life made in the Sierra Madre Mountains on the Gen'l Crooks Campaign [sic], May 1883."

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.