Joc-o-sot, the Walking Bear

Art Historical Context

**Joc-o-sot, the Walking Bear** is a striking full-length print by George Catlin, the pioneering 19th-century American artist renowned for his vivid documentation of Native American life. Captured in an unknown date from the Graphic Arts-Print medium, this work portrays Joc-o-sot—likely a prominent figure from an Indigenous tribe, whose name translates evocatively as "Walking Bear." Housed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection, it exemplifies Catlin's mission to preserve vanishing cultures through art, as he traveled extensively among tribes in the 1830s, sketching and painting over 600 portraits before "civilization" altered their ways of life forever. Catlin's style blended Romantic realism with ethnographic precision, making his prints accessible reproductions of his original oils and watercolors. This full-length depiction highlights the subject's dignified stature and traditional attire, offering museum visitors a window into Indigenous identity and pride. As part of the Smithsonian's transfer from the National Museum of Natural History's Ethnology Department, it underscores the artwork's role in early American anthropology, bridging art and cultural history. Today, *Joc-o-sot* invites reflection on Native resilience and the artist's urgent call to honor diverse heritages, reminding us of the power of prints to democratize such intimate encounters with the past.

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 ...