Lot, Chief of the Spokanes 1891 - 1906

Olin Levi Warner created this bronze relief portrait of Lot, Chief of the Spokanes, during a period of immense cultural change and conflict for Native American tribes. Warner's work emerges during a time when the US government's policies of assimilation and displacement deeply impacted indigenous communities. This portrait can be seen as both an attempt to preserve the image of a leader from a culture under threat and as a reflection of the complex power dynamics between the colonizers and the colonized. The choice of bronze, a material often used to commemorate historical figures, elevates Lot while simultaneously casting him in a Western artistic tradition. What does it mean to memorialize an individual even as their community faces systemic erasure? Lot's gaze, captured in this relief, invites us to reflect on the legacies of colonialism and the resilience of indigenous identity.