Black Eye, Blackfeet Sioux, from the American Indian Chiefs series (N36) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1888

This small card, portraying Black Eye of the Blackfeet Sioux, was printed by Allen & Ginter, a Richmond, Virginia tobacco firm. It's a chromolithograph, a color printing process that used multiple lithographic stones, one for each color. The layering of inks allowed for mass production of these cards, which were included in cigarette packs as collectibles. This was at the height of the industry’s popularity and the height of western expansion, an aggressive and violent strategy of industrialization. The card’s composition includes a portrait of Black Eye, a vignette of Blackfeet life, and decorative motifs. Notice how the printing process flattens the images, reducing the complex cultural narratives to easily digestible images for consumers. These cards were not only a marketing ploy but also a means of circulating and solidifying particular narratives about Native Americans. They participated in the erasure of complex histories. By understanding the card's production and context, we can unpack the power dynamics inherent in its seemingly simple image.