Wa-quóth-e-qua, The Buck's Wife, Wife of the Whale

About this artwork

“Ah-mou-a (the whale and his wife), are also fair specimens of this tribe [Sac and Fox]. Her name is Wa-quo-the-qua (the buck's wife, or female deer), and she was wrapped in a mackinaw blanket, whilst he was curiously dressed, and held his war-club in his hand.” (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 56, 1841; reprint 1973)

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 ...