Four Sepibo Indians 1854 - 1869

George Catlin made this painting of Four Sepibo Indians sometime in the first half of the 19th century. Catlin's project was to document the appearance and customs of Native Americans during a period of westward expansion and displacement. There are important questions to ask about the politics of representation at play here. Who is Catlin addressing with his imagery? Is his work directed at a sympathetic public who would be concerned about the treatment of indigenous peoples? Or, is this picture intended to reinforce stereotypes, feeding an appetite for the exotic in the United States? To get a better handle on these questions, we might look to historical sources like newspapers and popular literature from the same period. These resources would reveal a fuller picture of the social and institutional contexts that shaped both the production and the reception of Catlin's work.