Exhibit:

A Story of the Native American Way of Life

Preview of images

This gallery will feature images that will tell a story of Native American history through the literature, songs, petroglyphs, and speeches of their people. A variety of different Native American tribes and leaders will be featured, in addition to many cultural practices that they partook in. A brief history of the conflict that persisted between these tribes and English colonists will also be highlighted, and the speeches and words of wisdom offered by the leaders of these tribes will be provided and analyzed. Through these experiences, the Native American values, in addition to their respectable character as a whole, will also be discussed. Overall, this gallery will showcase Native American history, practices, and beliefs through an assortment of creation stories, battles, war traditions, and even worship. 

Images in this Exhibit

Pontiac in Counsil

This 1877 engraving by Albert Bobett is titled Pontiac in Counsil and it features Indian leader Pontiac as he gives his famous Speech at Detroit ("MeisterDrucke"). Pontiac was the leader of the Ottawa tribe that lived in modern-day Michigan and Ontario on both sides of what was Fort Detroit at the time (Maxwell 43). During this time, there was tension between the British colonists and the Ottawa tribe, as they continued to take control of and inhabit more of the Great Lakes region. In 1763, Pontiac gathered his tribe to announce his plans to attack Fort Detroit, which was one of...
Portrait of Tecumseh

This painting, based on Benson John Lossing’s original 1868 engraving, uses watercolors on platinum print to depict Tecumseh. Tecumseh was a warrior and leader of the Shawnee tribe. During his lifetime, he aimed to unite all Native American tribes, with the help of his brother Tenskwatawa, in order to defeat the British and drive them of their land. In order to gain support from these tribes, he traveled throughout the country and gave speeches to convince these people to join his cause (Sugden 273). In 1811, he spoke to the Osage tribe with the goal of gaining their support and...
Treaty of Lancaster

Displayed is an image of the 1748 Treaty of Lancaster, whose signing was influenced by Canassatego's Speech at Lancaster. During his speech, this Onondaga Indian went in front of the Governor of Maryland, and other colonial government officials, to ask for compensation for the land that the Iroquois Indians claimed after defeating the Susquehanna Indians ("Canassatego"). As previously stated, the testimony given within his speech also played a role in what would be the Lancaster Treaty proceedings of 1744, which would establish a boundary between Native American and colonial lands (“Six...
King Philip's War

This hand-colored woodcut of a 19th century illustration depicts a group of Native Americans attacking a white settlement during King Philip’s War (“King Philip’s War” [Wikipedia]). This war was fought between Native Americans and English settlers from 1675-1676 in New England (“King Philip’s War” [Encyclopædia Britannica]). King Philip’s real name was Metacom, and he was the leader of both the Wampanoag and the Narraganset tribes. During this time of the conflict, the Native Americans and the colonists had been disputing land claims and had been facing disagreements...
The Sky Woman

This 1936 oil painting by Ernest Smith is titled Sky Woman, and it depicts a scene from a popular Iroquois creation story which describes how the birth of two brothers, and the fall of their mother, impacted the creation of the “Great Island” (“Bookmachine”). There are many differing perspectives on how this story unfolded, but the first interpretation of this story states that, as the picture depicts, the Sky Woman lived amongst mankind on an island in the sky. The Sky Woman was pregnant with twins, but she was pushed by her husband, who was jealous of the children, into the...
Native American Petroglyph from the Lewis and Clark Expedition

This is an image of a Native American petroglyph, one that is specifically mentioned in the journal of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. This petroglyph was carved on a limestone cliff near the Nemaha River in Troy, Kansas (“Pictographs, Petroglyphs”). According to Clark on February 21, 1805, he had received information that a few Native American men would be leaving their camp to consult the Medicine Stone, in order to determine predictions regarding the upcoming year. Clark mentions that the Native American people believed very deeply in the stone and that every spring they visited the...
Algonquian Pictograph from Pennsylvania

The photo displayed above is an Eastern Algonquian pictograph that was copied in 1882 by Messrs. J. Sutton Wall and William Arison. This particular pictograph came from a rock in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, which was an area that was occupied by many Algonquian tribes (“Pictographs”). The rock that this pictograph was etched into is 390 feet above the Monongahela River and is about six feet wide. The rock is now detached from its original formation and the inscriptions are very faded. It can be assumed that many of the carved figures represented animals, which were known to be...
Tah-Chee the Cherokee Chief

At an unknown time between 1801 and 1856, lithographer John T. Bowen created this lithograph that depicts a Cherokee chief named Tah-Chee (“Tah-Chee”). In the portrait, it is evident that he is wearing a plumed hat with a knife tucked into his belt. It is important to recognize the significance of the white plumed hat and its implication during wartimes. Since the Cherokee Native Americans, like other tribes in North America, faced an abundance of conflict with the white people, they frequently engaged in war and fighting. During the Creek War, General Andrew Jackson requested that the...