Tchón-su-móns-ka, Sand Bar, Wife of Francois Chardon

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 said of Tchón-su-móns-ka, a Lakota woman, “This woman is at present the wife of a white man by the name of Chardon, a Frenchman, who has been many years in the employment of the American Fur Company.” (Smithsonian)