Slaves' Dance - Saukie 1861

George Catlin made this watercolor painting, titled *Slaves' Dance - Saukie,* sometime in the 19th century. Catlin, a white American painter, traveled extensively among Native American tribes, creating a visual record that romanticized Indigenous life while often overlooking the complexities of their cultures and histories. The painting ostensibly depicts a dance performed by enslaved people within the Sauk tribe. The figures are rendered with a degree of exoticism, their bodies and movements simplified, which flattens the diversity of individual identities and experiences into a single, homogenized representation. The gaze of the artist mediates our understanding, reinforcing a narrative of otherness. The artist’s position as an outsider looking in shapes the portrayal of the dancers, emphasizing the spectacle of the dance. We are left to consider the power dynamics at play – who is watching, who is being watched, and what stories are left untold. The emotional resonance of this artwork lies in what it reveals about the act of representation itself.