Plate 36. Stanley Hawk 

Plate 36. Stanley Hawk is a hand-colored engraving made by John James Audubon in the early 19th century, during a time of both scientific exploration and expanding settlement in the American landscape. Audubon sought to document all the birds of North America with a scientific rigor that was inflected with his own romantic vision. The hawk is rendered with meticulous detail, and the contrast between the hawk and the smaller bluebird creates a dramatic tension, suggestive of the food chain, but also the power dynamics inherent in the colonial project and the displacement of indigenous peoples and wildlife. Audubon's work romanticizes the natural world at the expense of indigenous people who were very much a part of it. In the artist’s own words, he aimed to present "a true representation of nature," yet this representation is mediated by the social and cultural values of his time. As you consider this image, reflect on the complex interplay between observation, representation, and the narratives we construct about the natural world.