Buffalo Hunt 1844

George Catlin created this lithograph titled 'Buffalo Hunt' sometime in the 19th century. Catlin's art captured scenes of Native American life but did so through the cultural lens of a white American. The image depicts a vast open landscape populated by a large herd of buffalo, but the foreground draws our attention to figures in wolf skins hunting these animals. This work, made during a period of westward expansion and federal Indian removal policies, romanticizes the 'wild west' and obscures the complexities of Native American cultures. Catlin toured his collection of paintings in the United States and Europe, creating a spectacle that both celebrated and exoticized Native Americans. Historians can access Catlin's writings, period newspapers, and government documents to better understand the social and political context in which he produced these images. By examining these resources, we can critically assess the power dynamics at play in representations of indigenous peoples during this period. Art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.