Assinneboine Chief before and after Civilization

George Catlin painted this work, *Assinneboine Chief before and after Civilization,* during a period of intense westward expansion in the United States, before 1872. Catlin sought to document what he perceived as the vanishing cultures of Native American tribes. Here, we see a divided portrayal of an Assiniboine Chief. On one side, he is adorned in traditional clothing and headdress, holding a pipe, set against a backdrop of native dwellings. On the other, he is dressed in a military-style suit with a sword, holding a document, with a European-style building in the background. The painting creates a before-and-after scenario of ‘civilization’. It evokes a sense of loss and forced assimilation, reflecting a colonialist perspective that equated Native American culture with backwardness. Catlin’s work encapsulates the complex and often contradictory attitudes of 19th-century America towards Native Americans, oscillating between admiration and a desire for cultural transformation.