Lean Wolf, Gros Ventres, from the American Indian Chiefs series (N2) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1888

This small chromolithograph of Lean Wolf was produced in the late 19th century as a cigarette card. It's part of a series by Allen & Ginter, featuring American Indian Chiefs. These cards were inserted into cigarette packs as a marketing strategy, capitalizing on the popular fascination with Native American culture. But let's consider the politics of this imagery. Made during a period of westward expansion and conflict with indigenous peoples, the card exoticizes and commodifies Native American identity for a mass consumer market. While it might appear to celebrate Lean Wolf, it simultaneously reinforces a romanticized, stereotypical view, divorced from the realities of his life and the struggles of his community. To fully understand this image, we might turn to historical archives, ethnographic studies, and Native American voices to unpack its complex layers of meaning. Art, like this card, doesn't exist in a vacuum; its meaning is always shaped by the social and institutional contexts in which it's produced and consumed.