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Native American Portraits
Native American Portraits in the Library
Emissaries who visited the mansion in 1822 were painted by Charles
Bird King.
On the left, Sharitarish, or "Wicked Chief" of the Pawnee Tribe.
On the right, Hayne Hudjihini, or "Eagle of Delight", of the Oto Tribe.
She contracted measles during her visit and died shortly after she returned
home.
These paintings, given to the White House in 1962, are King's own
copies from a set of eight portraits commissioned in 1821 for the American
Indian archives, then located in Georgetown. In 1865, the originals--by then in
the Smithsonian Institution--were destroyed by fire.
The federal government, fearing that the powerful and militant tribes
of the Great Plains would oppose westward expansion, invited a number of Native
American leaders to visit the nation's most important cities and forts and to
meet their "Great Father" the President. Government officials hoped to overawe
these Indians with an impressive show of military strength, luxurious gifts,
and elaborate ceremony.
When the Native Americans arrived in Washington, merchants fitted them
out in military finery for an audience with
President James Monroe. They
were formally received by the President in the
Red Room on February 4, 1822. With
the help of interpreters, he thanked them for coming, spoke of the white man's
strength and the blessing of peace, and offered to send missionaries to
instruct them in Christianity and agriculture. The chiefs, impressed but
feeling ill at ease in their new clothes, gravely replied that they admired the
things they had seen but preferred their own life of trapping bear and hunting
buffalo. Sharitarish, their leader, added: "...we have plenty of land, if you
will keep your people off it."
Each speaker laid a gift at the President's feet: moccasins, feathered
headdresses, buffalo robes, and peace pipes. Before the party moved to the
Blue Room for cake and wine,
Sharitarish expressed the hope that Monroe would order the presents kept "in
some conspicuous part of your lodge, so that when we are gone,...if our
children should visit this place, as we do now, they may see and recognize with
pleasure the deposits of their fathers, and reflect on times that are past."
The gifts were unfortunately lost long ago, and efforts to avoid fighting the
Great Plains tribes were unsuccessful.
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