Shon-ta-yi-ga, Little Wolf, a Famous Warrior

This oil-on canvas was created ca. 1844 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. At this time, 14 members of the Iowa tribe joined Catlin’s tour of London and Paris to exhibit and promote his Indian Gallery. On that trip, both Catlin and Shon-ta-yi-ga, an Iowa warrior, lost a wife and a son. (Smithsonian)