Dance of the Chiefs, Mouth of the Teton River

About this artwork

“In this dance, which I have called ‘the dance of the chiefs,’ for want of a more significant title, was given by fifteen or twenty chiefs and doctors; many of whom were very old and venerable men. All of them came out in their head-dresses of war-eagle quills, with a spear or staff in the left hand, and a rattle in the right. It was given in the midst of he Sioux village, in front of the head chief's lodge, and beside the medicine-man who beat on the drum, and sang for the dance, there were fou...

Art Historical Context

George Catlin's *Dance of the Chiefs, Mouth the Teton River*1832–1833) captures a vibrant Sioux (Dakota) ceremonial witnessed by the artist during his travels among Native American tribes in the early 1830s. Catlin, a pioneering painter and ethnographer, journeyed westward to document indigenous cultures before they were profoundly changed by European-American expansion. This oil painting, likely sketched and possibly even completed on-site near Fort Pierre in present-day South Dakota, reflects urgent mission to preserve these traditions through art. In the scene, fifteen to twenty venerable ...

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 ...