Indians in Council, 1850, Seth Eastman, American, 1808–1875, 8 5/16 × 10 15/16 in. (21.11 × 27.78 cm) (image)9 3/4 × 12 5/8 in. (24.77 × 32 cm) (sheet), Watercolor, United States, 19th century, Seth Eastman may have used this picture-perfect chief and the council theme as an excuse to make candid portraits of these Dakota villagers. Many brought their long-stemmed pipes, signs of hospitality. The blue-and-white striped blanket worn by the figure seated below the person in orange (standing near the chief) could be a Hudson Bay blanket, underscoring the cosmopolitan exchange of goods that characterized the lives of Native people. Far from static or isolated, they benefited from lively trade routes that brought the world’s goods to their door. They also bent those goods to their own creative ends. The seated figure near the tipi’s flap showed his individualism by sticking feathers in the top of a fedora.
Keywords:
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