Indians Fishing 

Albert Bierstadt made this oil on canvas painting, Indians Fishing, sometime in the 19th century. Bierstadt was part of the Hudson River School, a group known for their romanticized landscape paintings. This artwork presents a serene scene of Indigenous people fishing in canoes, set against a backdrop of the American wilderness. What's striking is the almost dreamlike quality of the landscape. There's a gentle light, a calm that veils the complex history of the American West and the displacement of its Indigenous peoples. Bierstadt's work often romanticized the West. While beautiful, these representations tended to gloss over the harsh realities faced by Native Americans during westward expansion. "The artist has a grand opportunity," Bierstadt said, "to portray the beauty of nature and the nobility of man." Yet, it prompts us to consider whose nobility and whose version of beauty was being portrayed. The painting, with its tranquil surface, invites us to reflect on the narratives we tell about history, identity, and the land. It asks us to consider the emotional and personal dimensions of these stories.