In 1990, George H.W. Bush declared November to beĀ Native American Indian Heritage Month.Ā (It was subsequently referred to as Native American Heritage Month and re-certified by additional presidential proclamations). This month-long observance grew out of American Indian Day, proclaimed in 1915 by the president of the American Indian Association, Rev. Sherman Coolidge, and adopted in various forms by several states in the following years.
The New-York Historical Societyās Museum collection includes a treasure trove of early portraits of Native Americans, notably those byĀ
George Catlin (1796-1872):
Catlin Painting the Portrait of Mah-to-toh-pa (Mandan) in 1832, 1866-68. Purchased by the Society, 1872.23.179.
Seminolee (Woman, Infant, and Two Men with Background Figures), 1866-68. Purchased by the Society, 1872.23.69.
Charles-Balthazar-Julien Fevret de Saint-Memin (1770-1852):
Yellow Corn, a Mandan, 1806-07. Elizabeth DeMilt Fund, 1860.96.
Unidentified Male Delaware, possibly Montgomery Montour, 1806-07. Elizabeth DeMilt Fund, 1860.97.
Anne MarguĆ©rite JosĆ©phine Henriette RouillĆ© de Marigny, Baroness Hyde de Neuville (1771ā1849), whose work can currently be seen on view at N-YHS inĀ āArtist in Exile: The Visual Diary of Baroness Hyde de Neuvilleā through January 26, 2020:
Fair Indian Man of the Buffalo Tribe, Canisteo, New York, 1808. Purchase, 1953.219.
Seneca āSquahā and Papoose, Western New York, 1808. Purchase, 1953.209.
and David Cusick (ca.1785ā1831), himself Tuscarora:
Iroquois Mythological Giant Hunter Holding Weapons, with a Deer and Bear under His Belt, c.1827. Gift of Lansing Thurber, X.519[dup].
Three Iroquois: AtotƔrho Protected by Black Snakes, Flanked by Deganawida(?) Offering Wampum and Hiawatha(?), c.1827. Gift of Lansing Thurber, X.520[dup].
