Two Moon, North American Chief, from the Savage and Semi-Barbarous Chiefs and Rulers series (N189) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1888

This chromolithograph of Two Moon, a Cheyenne chief, was produced by the Wm. S. Kimball & Company as part of a series of collectible cards. Printed in the United States, the image is a product of the late 19th-century fascination with the American West, and the series presents a clear racial hierarchy. The title, “Savage and Semi-Barbarous Chiefs and Rulers” places Native American leaders in opposition to European standards of civilization, a common justification for colonial expansion and the seizure of indigenous lands. The romanticized depiction of Two Moon, adorned with traditional attire, exoticizes him as a symbol of a vanishing culture, while obscuring the complex realities of Native American life in the face of government policies of assimilation. To fully understand this image, we can research the history of tobacco advertising and the representation of Native Americans in popular culture. This illuminates the complex relationship between art, commerce, and the construction of social identities.