Ball-play of the Women, Prairie du Chien

About this artwork

George Catlin witnessed Choctaw lacrosse in Indian Territory in 1834, but a year later, at Prairie du Chien in today’s Wisconsin, Catlin saw and recorded the Eastern Sioux/Dakota version of ball-play. He later described the game: “In the ball-play of the women, they have two balls attached to the ends of a string, about a foot and a half long; and each woman has a short stick in each hand, on which she catches the string with the two balls, and throws them, endeavoring to force them over the...

Art Historical Context

George Catlin's *Ball-play of the Women Prairie du Chien* (1835–1836) captures a dynamic moment in Native American life during his extensive travels across the American frontier A pioneering artist and ethnographer, Catlin dedicated much of his career to documenting cultures threatened by westward expansion. Painted after he observed the Eastern Sioux (Dakota) women at Prairie du Chien—a key fur-trading hub in present-day Wisconsin—this oil painting vividly records a traditional game distinct from the Choctaw lacrosse he had seen the previous year in Indian Territory. In Catlin's own words fr...

About the Artist

George Catlin · 1796–1872

George Catlin (1796–1872), born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to Putnam Catlin and Polly Sutton—who had been captured by Native Americans during the 1778 Battle of Wyoming—initially pursued a legal career. Trained at Litchfield Law School, he was admitted to the bar in 1819 but abandoned law after two years to study art in Philadelphia in 1823. Self-taught as a portraitist, Catlin quickly gained ...