Native Americans have played an important role in Misouri's art history. Their artwork included ceramics, woven textiles, and cave paintings as well as many other creations. Their people also inspired artists throughout the world. Many artists painted portraits of the different Native American tribes before they completely vanished. Traveling the lands, they came across tribes of these native people and painted picture upon picture. Today, these paintings are nearly all that remain of some of these extinct tribes.
Many different tribes once lived in what is now Missouri. Some of the different tribes that lived on the land that is now known as Missouri include the Sac, Osage, Missouri, Kaskaskia, Kansas, Iowa, Deleware, Shawnee, Kickapoo, Sauk, Fox, Miami, Wea, Pinkashaw, Hopi, and the Mississippi. Each of them lived their own way, but they all had an impact on our world.
George Catlin was one of the artists that painted the Native American People. He grew up in Pennsylvania, and always had a fascination for Native Americans. In 1823 he quit his law career and became an artist. Three years later he traveled west to St. Louis in search of the rapidly disappearing tribes. He had the great fortune to meet William Clark, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Clark was the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and soon became good friends with Catlin. Clark took the artist with him to several negotiating and ceremonial sessions with Indians, whom Catlin studied and painted. Today, his works can be seen throughout the world. The State Historical society displays some reproductions of his work honoring the tribes that once lived in the area.
A couple of men named Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall made an astounding accomplishment many years ago. They gathered many Indian portraits and facts and compiled them into one of the most comprehensive collections of Native American tribes ever. McKenney was Superintendent of Indian trade under Presidents Madison, Monroe, John Quincy Adams, and Jackson, and he got to know many of the Indians very well. James Hall was a frontier lawyer, judge, newspaper editor, and author. Together, they put together a magnificent portfolio that gave a great representation of Indian life, lore, and costume. Without this, the knowledge of many of the Native people would have perished with them.
The Deleware Tribe
Tishcohan, or He Who Never Blackens Himself
Gustavus Hesselius painted this Deleware chief around 1735. He is known for signing the Walking Purchase which he later regretted.The Iowa Tribe
Mew-Hew-She-Kaw, or White Cloud
This chief was painted by George Catlin.The Kansas (Konza) Tribe
Konza Warriors, Woman and Child
This group portrait was also painted by Catlin.The Mississippi Tribe (The Mound Builders)
Mound Builder Pipe
This pipe in a human-animal form is a form of art work from the Mound Builder culture.
Mississippi Culture (Moundbuilder) Pottery
This "Death's head" vessel is an example of the art that these people did in painted pottery. It is approximately 8" tall.The Missouri Tribe
Haw-Che-Ka-Sug-Ga (He Who Kills the Osages)
This Missouri Tribe chief was painted by Catlin.The Osage Tribe
Mohongo
This portrait was done by Charles Bird King. Mohongo and her child were among the seven Osage Indians that a man by the name of David Delaunay took on a very odd journey. He told them he was going to take them to meet the President of the United States. Instead, he took them to Europe touring as a primitive Wild West show.The Sac Tribe
Muck-a-tah-mish-a-kah-kaik. (The Black Hawk) A Sac Chief
This portrait was painted by reknowned explorer, George Catlin.
Nah-pope. (The Soup) A Sac Warrior.
This portrait was also painted by George Catlin.The Sauk and Fox Tribes
Keokuk, Chief of the Sauk and Fox Nation
This painted was done by Charles Bird King. This was probably the most famous and most powerful man in all of the tribes within the area. He would travel to visit with the Osage, the Oto, the Omaha, the Winnebage, and the Iowa each year. He would always be accompanied by fifty of his tribes strongest warriors as his guards. He was legendary around the plains in the 1820s and 1830s.The Shawnee Tribe
Tenskwatawa, the Prophet, Brother of Tecumseh
This painting was executed by Charles Bird King off of an older painting by James Otto Lewis. This chief has been acknowledged as one of the greatest of American Indians. He sat on a council fighting to create a land for the Indians that a white man's boot would never touch. He also tried to unite all of the Indian tribes and end the wars between them.To see some more artifacts from the Native American tribes of Missouri take a look at the Arrow Rock page.
