Adventures of the Ojibbeway and Ioway Indians in England, France, and Belgium; Vol. 1 (of 2): being Notes of Eight Years' Travels and Residence in Europe with his North American Indian CollectionCatlin, George
History
Adventures of the Ojibbeway and Ioway Indians in England, France, and Belgium; Vol. 1 (of 2): being Notes of Eight Years' Travels and Residence in Europe with his North American Indian Collection
Catlin, George
England -- Description and travel; France -- Description and travel; Indians of North America
_Catlin's Indian Gallery._--We must confess that, after the many
failures of exhibitions analogous to this, we did not go to it prepared
either to be pleased or to glean from it any novelty of information;
but we were most agreeably disappointed, and can assure our readers
that a more attractive exercise for the mind could not well have been
devised. We may, without hesitation, describe this immense collection
of portraits, landscapes, costumes, and representations of manners and
customs, as embracing a view of all the North American Indian tribes
(resident in the British and Mexican territories, and those of the
United States) now unexterminated! Out of the entire nations swept away
by whiskey, smallpox, and the aggressions of the whites, about 300,000
souls remain; and of these the numbers become every year more and more
reduced, so that ultimately we may calculate with certainty that they
will
"Leave not a wreck behind."
Under this impression Mr. Catlin has done well and wisely to "devote
more than eight years of his life to the accomplishment of so great a
design" as that of creating their pictorial history.
Mr. Catlin states that every painting has been made from nature, and
by his own hand, many of them in the intervals of paddling a canoe, or
leading a packhorse through trackless wilds, at the hazard of his life;
that he has visited these people in their own villages, and painted
their portraits (certificated by the United States authorities) on the
spot.
The room in which this exhibition takes place is on the ground-floor
of the Egyptian Hall, and is 106 feet in length. In the centre is a
very handsome "Crow lodge or wigwam," brought from the foot of the
Rocky Mountains. It is made of buffalo-skins garnished and painted.
The pine-poles are thirty in number, and the interior will hold eighty
persons. On a table near this tent are lances, calumets, tomahawks,
scalping-knives, and scalps; and above, men's and women's dresses,
bows, spears, shields, moccasins, war-clubs, drums, &c. Around are
hung the numerous paintings in oil, comprising portraits, landscapes,
ceremonies, games, manual occupations, hunting excursions, councils,
and feasts.
The portraits are very characteristic, the men being for the most
part tidy, with one or two striking exceptions, and the young women
remarkably handsome. The landscapes are clearly painted, and the
ceremonies are very amusing in some instances and very horrible in
others. Those which please us most are the hunting and travelling
sketches, and one or two of "the fury of the fight!" For instance, No.
486, "Bogard, Batiste, and I, chasing a herd of buffalo in high grass,
on a Missouri bottom," is one of the most spirited things that can be
imagined; and so also is No. 471, "A Camanchee warrior lancing an Osage
at full speed."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account