Young+Omahaw,+War+Eagle,+Little+Missouri,+and+Pawnees

Date:1821
 * [[image:https://s3.amazonaws.com/saam.media/files/styles/x_large/s3/images/1985/1985.66.384%252C222_1a.jpg?itok=hFIKUW49 width="387" height="300" link="@https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/young-omahaw-war-eagle-little-missouri-and-pawnees-13740"]] || Title: **Young Omahaw, War Eagle, Little Missouri, and Pawnees**

Artist: **Charles Bird King** Born: Newport, Rhode Island 1785 Died: Washington, District of Columbia 1862

Medium: oil on canvas Dimensions: 36 1/8 x 28 in. (91.8 x 71.1 cm) Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Miss Helen Barlow

Accession: 1985.66.384,222 || These Plains Indian chiefs were among many who traveled to Washington to meet with the president to negotiate their territorial rights with the government. At the White House, the Capitol, and in private homes, policymakers employed bribery, dazzle, and intimidation to win the cooperation of these men. In his Seventh Street studio, Charles Bird King painted their portraits, creating a gallery of allies in the government’s plan to settle the Indian question peacefully.
 * Exhibition Label:**

War Eagle wears a presidential peace medal, valued by Native Americans as a sign of status and worn on all formal occasions. The artist painted the chiefs with a war axe, blood-red face paint, and eagle feathers atop their heads, reinforcing the romantic image of Indians as savages. One Englishman, however, saw them differently. He described them as "men of large stature, very muscular, having fine open countenances, with the real noble Roman nose, dignified in their manners, and peaceful and quiet in their habits."

1. For what reason(s) did the U. S. Bureau of Indian Affairs want Charles Bird King to paint the portrait of five American Indians in 1821?
 * Suggested Questions:**

2. At least four of the five American Indians were warriors. The Pawnees were known as fierce fighters in battle. Do you observe anything threatening in this painting?

3. War Eagle has a silver medal on a red ribbon around his neck. Whose profile do you think is on the medal?

4. Little Missouri has a red ribbon around his neck also, but we cannot see what is on the ribbon. What do you think may be on it?

5. The curator says, “All five men are presented in war regalia. . . .” What clues do you observe that the men are ready for war?

6. All of the American Indians have red paint on their faces except the Pawnee on the far right. For what reason(s) might his face not have been adorned like the others?

7. How do you think people in Washington DC felt when they saw these five men traveling on the streets of the District? For what reason(s) may they have felt that way?

8. Charles Bird King was paid well for painting portraits of presidents, first ladies, cabinet members and wealthy people. Why would he work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs when he was paid only $20 for each head he painted ($26 for an entire body)?

9. American Indian leaders signed peace treaties with the U. S. Government. Nevertheless over time their lives were affected by Manifest Destiny. What changes occurred in the lives of American Indians during the next few decades?

10. On the opposite wall to the right is //Self-Portrait// by Benjamin West. West was King’s art teacher. Are there any similarities between King’s portrait of American Indians and West’s self-portrait?

[|Artist Biography] SAAM Collections Page
 * Links:**