Wúk-mi-ser, Corn, a Miniconjou Warrior

About this artwork

“I am now in the heart of the country belonging to the numerous tribe of Sioux or Dahcotas, and have Indian faces and Indian customs in abundance around me. This tribe is one of the most numerous in North America, and also one of the most vigorous and warlike tribes to be found, numbering some forty or fifty thousand, and able undoubtedly to muster, if the tribe could be moved simultaneously, at least eight or ten thousand warriors, well mounted and well armed. This tribe take vast numbers of ...

Art Historical Context

In 1832, American artist George Catlin captured striking portrait *Wúk-mi-ser,, a Miniconjou* at Fort Pierre, in the heart of Sioux—or Dakota—territory. Catlin, a pioneering painter of Native American life, was on a mission to document the customs and visages of Indigenous peoples before Western expansion altered their world forever. This bust-length portrait depicts Wúk-mi-ser, a from the Miniconjou of the Lakota Sioux (also known as Teton Sioux), dressed in traditional regalia that reflects the tribe's proud heritage. Catlin marveled at the Sioux as one of North America's most numerous, vig...

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 ...