Mah-to-toh-pa, Four Bears, Second Chief, in Full Dress

This oil-on canvas was created in 1832 by American artist George Catlin (1796-1872). Catlin’s collection of Native American portraits includes over 400 paintings created during his travels in the American West during the 1830s and 1840s. In his notes, Catlin described this Mandan young man as being “in undress, being in mourning, with a few locks of hair cut off, his hair put up in plaits or slabs, with glue and red paint, a custom of the tribe.” (Smithsonian)