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Náw-káw, Wood, Former Chief of the Tribe
From the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Before George Catlin began his extensive travels in the West, he spent time in eastern cities, where he often saw visiting delegations of Native Americans and painted their portraits. Nine members of a Winnebago delegation from present-day Wisconsin sat for him in Washington, D.C., in 1828, and among them was former Winnebago chief Náw-káw, or Wood. Catlin wrote that “this man has been much distinguished in his time, for his eloquence; and he desired me to paint him in the attitude of an orator, addressing his people.” (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 52, 1841; reprint 1973)
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit lineNáw-káw, Wood, Former Chief of the Tribe. 1828. George Catlin, born Wilkes-Barre, PA 1796-died Jersey City, NJ 1872. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.. CC0.
