Sham Fight, Mandan Boys
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Object Details
- Artist
- George Catlin, born Wilkes-Barre, PA 1796-died Jersey City, NJ 1872
- Luce Center Label
- “The sham-fight . . . of the Mandan boys . . . is a part of their regular exercise, and constitutes a material branch of their education. During the pleasant mornings of the summer, the little boys between the age of seven and fifteen are called out, to the number of several hundred, and being divided into two companies, each of which is headed by some experienced warrior . . . they are led out into the prairie at sunrise, where this curious discipline is regularly taught them. Their bodies are naked, and each one has a little bow in his left hand and a number of arrows made of large spears of grass, which are harmless in their effects . . . on the tops of their heads are slightly attached small tufts of grass, which answer as scalps, and in this plight, they follow the dictates of their experienced leaders . . . through the judicious evolutions of Indian warfare.” (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 1, no. 19, 1841; reprint 1973)
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
- 1832-1833
- Object number
- 1985.66.455
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 19 5/8 x 27 1/2 in. (49.7 x 70.0 cm)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Topic
- Children
- Western
- Indian\Mandan
- Ceremony\Indian\Sham Fight
- Record ID
- saam_1985.66.455
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7c2aad4cb-c975-466a-91e1-8c3c903116e9
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
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