Individual Post #4. George Catlin's Indians

During the nineteenth century there were several major advancements in the realms of commercial agriculture and transportation. By the 1850s, railroads, steamboats and canals were built, all allowing migrants to further their travels west into North America from the Atlantic coast. A sense of pride was established amongst Americans through these accomplishments. With the conquest of the American land came the removal of many Indigenous tribes. By this time, many tribes of Native Americans had been forced to adopt the "white" lifestyle. In 1830, under President Jackson's term, the Indian Removal Act was passed. Under this act, Native Americans were demanded to relocate, and if necessary, by force. Thus, the assimilation of an Indigenous culture into the dominant "white" was full blown. Many measures were taken in order to ensure Native Americans were driven out of their lands. In 1838, about 16,000 Cherokees died during the "Trail of Tears" when a 7,000 man army escorted the final group of Cherokees west of Oklahoma (p.188).

As urban America was developing the Native American culture was depleting. The influx of immigrants reached its peak of 430,000 annually by 1850 leaving even less room for the tribes (p.237). Native American lifestyle unthreaded, and a once headstrong and pride-driven group of people fell to the influence of lower class American addictions. Some artists throughout history have represented the downfall of the Indigenous people in their paintings. One man in particular, George Catlin did a series of paintings of Native Americans from 1830-1850. Catlin's painting (1837-1839) of Pigeons Egg Head depicts an opinion of the effects "white" culture had on the evolving culture of the Native Americans.

The painting is divided in half. On the left there is a traditional Native American, who is in complete headdress and time-honored attire; while on the right, there is the same Native American, pompously dressed, and saturated in Americanized, high-class culture. The man on the left is facing Washington as though he is on his way there. In the background is the grand capital building. He is standing tall and full of glory. Starting from the top of the painting, Pigeons Egg Head is fully dressed with a headdress which extends from the top of his head to the ground. Moving down the painting, he is beautifully adorned in traditional jewlery and clothing. In his left hand there is a smoke pipe, which to some Native American’s was a spiritual and dignified object. On the right, a completely different man is painted. This time, it seems as though Pigeons Egg Head is returning home to his tribe from Washington. After his stay in the capital, he has acquired many of the American customs, from the way he dresses to his behavior. From head to toe he is dressed in a suit. The white gloves he is wearing signifies stature and accomplishment. He is no longer smoking from a pipe, yet he is smoking tobacco. Also, in his back pockets are two bottles of alcohol. He is seen stumbling home to his tribe, unable to walk steadily, he uses a cane to direct and balance his belligerent self. Pigeons Egg Head completely abandoned his culture and adopted the American way of life. He has degraded from a man of dignity to a drunk.

The painting, Pigeon’s Egg Head by George Catlin, implies that Native Americans were easily influenced by American culture. The example of Pigeons Egg Head evinces the idea that Native Americans went to Washington looking for opportunity, and came back completely absorbed in "white" culture, all the while forgetting their long-lived customs and deep-set pride. The obvious denigration the painting is trying to depict is that Native Americans, an originally bold and sophisticated nation of people devolved into an inglorious, ill-behaved and reckless population. The reasons for the downfall of Native American life are obvious. Cohabitation, with the settlers, as well as force, gave the Indigenous people no choice but to absorb “white” culture. The growing white population forced Native American tribes westward, while along the way, many died or abandoned their own culture to survive. The historical context from which Catlin paints is rooted in the idea that modern-American civilization during the nineteenth century was filled with pride because Americans acknowledged their major accomplishments, and as American pride grew, Native American pride deteriorated.

Comments

[Nhat Pham]

Very well written post perfect grammar. Allow me to try to give suggestions though, in my opinion your thesis is too broad. I don't like your word choice "evinces" (never liked that word) so no offense. I think you should have spread your quotes through your post better. I think if you added more quotes it would support your concluding paragraph and the post would have been more balanced.

[Shannon Kelleher]

April, your post is incredibly detailed in it's description. It sounds like you really did your research. However, sometimes too much detail can be confusing. Your introduction is very lengthy and branches off into a few different directions. Next time you may want to try to get through your introduction in one paragraph. Also, I don't understand how your last sentence fits in with the rest of your post. You go from the deterioration of Native American culture to ending with American pride. It doesn't fit with the rest of your paper, and doesn't wrap anything up, as your ending should do. Lastly, I agree with Nhat when he said that your thesis is too broad. You said that it depicts an opinion, but you neglected to say what that opinion was.