Kotz-a-tó-ah, Smoked Shield, a Distinguished Warrior

About this artwork

George Catlin described Smoked Shield as “another of the extraordinary men of this tribe [Kiowa], near seven feet in stature, and distinguished, not only as one of the greatest warriors, but the swiftest on foot, in the nation. This man, it is said, runs down a buffalo on foot, and slays it with his knife or his lance, as he runs by its side!” Smoked Shield’s most notable accessory is his shield, made of the heaviest part of a buffalo hide and smoked over a campfire to make it even tougher...

Art Historical Context

George Catlin's 1834 portrait *Kotz-a-tó-ah, Smoked Shield, a Warrior* captures the imposing presence of a Kiowa leader, whom the artist described as nearly seven feet tall—one of the tribe's greatest warriors and theest runner. Catlin painted this during his ambitious travels across the American Plains in the 183s, documenting Native American life through hundreds of portraits before rapid cultural changes from European. As a pioneer of ethnographic art, Catlin's realistic oil paintings preserved vanishing traditions, blending portraiture with anthropological insight. Smoked Shield's namesak...

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 ...