American Historical Ephemera and Early Photography, including The Larry Ness Collection of Native American Photography

12 1/8 x 17 1/2 (image) lithograph, framed to 27 1/2 x 34 in. Title printed to lower margin. Artist and publisher's information printed just below image. The left and right portions of the print are divided along a vertical line and bear separate captions reading, "Going to Washington," and "Returning to his home," respectively. The left portion of the print features the chief robed in traditional garb including a long feathered headdress and beaded hide tunic. The right portion presents the same chief decked out in a western-style military uniform including a plumed hat, frock coat with epaulettes, and a sword. He also holds a fan in front of him with one hand and an umbrella or parasol behind him with the other.

After George Catlin's original oil painting, this depiction illuminates the vast differences between the cultures represented. The Assiniboine leader featured here, whose name translates to "The Light," was chosen to represent his tribe on a diplomatic visit to Washington in the early 1830s. The necessarily over-the-top decadence of his dress and accoutrements in the right portion of the print paint a negative light on the Euro-American influences on Native American cultures. The chief's masculinity and firm resolve appear to have been weakened in the transformation.