Ball-play+of+the+Choctaw--Ball+Up

Date: 1846-1850
 * [[image:http://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?id=http://americanart.si.edu/images/1985/1985.66.428A_1a.jpg&max=460 width="367" height="296" link="@http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=3886"]] || Title: **Ball-play of the Choctaw--Ball Up**

Artist: **George Catlin** Born: Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 1796 Died: Jersey City, New Jersey 1872

Medium: oil on canvas Dimensions: 25 3/4 x 32 in. (65.4 x 81.4 cm) Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.

Accession: 1985.66.428A || In 1834, George Catlin witnessed Choctaw lacrosse in Indian Territory near present-day Oklahoma, and was captivated by the game. He described ball-play as “a school for the painter or sculptor, equal to any of those which ever inspired the hand of the artist in the Olympian games or the Roman forum.” Lacrosse, which involved a no-holds-barred struggle for the ball, was a physical, even violent, game called “little brother of war” in Choctaw.
 * Exhibition Label: **

Catlin Classroom Map of George Catlin's Route
 * Resources: **

Artist George Catlin: Painter Of American Indian Portraits - Wisconsin Public Radio

Artist Biography <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">SAAM Collections Page
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">Links: **