Native American Representation in Art

Podcast Episode: Native American Voices in the Capitol Collection

This podcast is part of the Shaping History: Women in Capitol Art series created by the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. Listen below to hear about the women artists and women historical figures depicted in the art of the Capitol.

Download the transcript or read more about this episode.

Paintings

• Baptism of Pocahontas
  Oil on canvas by John G. Chapman, 1840. Located in the Rotunda.
• Discovery of the Hudson River
  Oil on canvas by Albert Bierstadt, 1874.
• Discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto
  Oil on canvas by William H. Powell, 1853. Located in the Rotunda.
• Entrance Into Monterey
  Oil on canvas by Albert Bierstadt, 1876.
• Landing of Columbus
  Oil on canvas by John Vanderlyn, 1846. Located in the Rotunda.
• Portrait of Pocahontas
  Oil on canvas, copy of 17th-century painting by an unknown artist, given in 1899. Located in S–223.
• Paintings of Indian Life for the House Committee on Indian Affairs (now the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs)
  Oil on canvas by Seth Eastman, 1867–1869. Located in 1324 Longworth House Office Building.
  • Buffalo Chase
  • Death Whoop
  • Dog Dance of the Dakotas
  • Feeding the Dead
  • Indian Council
  • Indian Mode of Traveling
  • Indian Woman Dressing a Deer Skin
  • Rice Gatherers
  • Spearing Fish in Winter

Murals

• Allegorical figure of America
  Detail of fresco by Constantino Brumidi, 1856. Located in H-144.
• America
  Detail of ceiling decoration, fresco by Constantino Brumidi, c. 1857. Located in S-127.
• Bartolomé de Las Casas, the Apostle of the Indians
  Oil on plaster by Constantino Brumidi, 1876. Located above door of S-133.
• Columbus and the Indian Maiden
  Fresco by Constantino Brumidi, c. 1875. Located above door of S-132.
• Indian faces, details of ceiling decoration in panels on ribs of vault
  Tempera on plaster by Constantino Brumidi, c. 1857. Located in S-127.
• Indian chiefs, details in ceiling decoration
  Tempera with gilded background, probably by Carl Rakemann, 1850s. Located in the House corridor, second floor.
• Revolutionary battle scenes including Indians, details of ceiling
  Tempera on plaster by Constantino Brumidi, c. 1857. Located in S-128.
• Indian head, detail in arch
  Tempera on plaster designed by Constantino Brumidi, c. 1855. Located in S-213.
• Indians, details of ceiling
  Tempera on plaster by Constantino Brumidi, 1860, repainted by Cliff Young, 1980. Located in Zodiac Corridor, Senate wing, first floor.
• Indian chief with bow, vignette on left side of The Mayflower Compact, 1620
  Oil on canvas on wall by Allyn Cox, 1973–1982. Located in the Great Experiment Hall, House wing, first floor.
• Westward Expansion Hall
  Oil-on-canvas ceiling murals by EverGreene Painting Studios, 1993–1994. Located in the House wing, first floor.
  • List of Indian tribes on map, Central North America
  • List of Indian tribes on map, From the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River
  • List of Indian tribes on map, From Texas to the Pacific Ocean
  • List of Indian tribes on map, Terra Incognita
  • Alaskan Purchase, 1867
  • Fur Trade
  • Indian Ceremony
  • Island Dance
  • Lewis and Clark
  • Sandwich Islands
  • Spanish Mission
  • Stalking Deer
  • Timucuan Village
• Frieze of American History
  Fresco by Constantino Brumidi, 1877–1880, and Filippo Costaggini, 1881–1889. Located in Rotunda.
  • "Landing of Columbus" by Constantino Brumidi
  • "Cortez and Montezuma at Mexican Temple" by Constantino Brumidi
  • "Captain Smith and Pocahontas" by Constantino Brumidi
  • "William Penn and the Indians" by Constantino Brumidi
  • "Oglethorpe and the Indians" by Filippo Costaggini from sketch by Brumidi
  • "Death of Tecumseh" by Filippo Costaggini from sketch by Brumidi
• Native American implements, four quatrefoils in ceiling
  Oil on plaster by James Leslie, 1857. Located in H-128.

Sculpture—Reliefs

• Conflict of Daniel Boone and the Indians, 1773
  Sandstone by Enrico Causici, 1826–1827. Located in the Rotunda.
• Landing of the Pilgrims, 1620
  Sandstone by Enrico Causici, 1825. Located in the Rotunda.
• William Penn's Treaty with the Indians, 1682
  Sandstone by Nicholas Gevelot, 1827. Located in the Rotunda.
• Preservation of Captain Smith by Pocahontas, 1606
  Sandstone by Antonio Capellano, 1825. Located in the Rotunda.
• Scenes of Père Marquette preaching to the Indians, and of Marquette, Joliet, and Indian guide exploring the upper Mississippi
  Bronze by Gaetano Trentanove, 1895. Located on base of statue of James Marquette in the House Connecting Corridor.

Sculpture—Busts

• Aysh-Ke-Bah-Ke-Ko-Zhay (Flat Mouth), Chippewa chief
  Marble by Francis Vincenti, 1858. Located in Senate wing, third floor, east corridor.
• Beeshekee (Buffalo), Chippewa warrior
  Marble by Francis Vincenti, 1855. Located in Senate wing, third floor, east corridor.
• Beeshekee (Buffalo), Chippewa warrior
  Bronze cast by Joseph Lassalle, 1858, after the bust by Francis Vincenti. Located in House wing, second floor, west stairway.
• Vice President Charles Curtis
  Marble by Moses A. Wainer Dykaar, dated 1929, accepted in 1935. Located in Senate corridor, second floor.

Sculpture—Figures

• Indian Fountain
  Bronze by William H. Rinehart, 1857.
• Indian statuette on House Clock
  Bronze by William H. Rinehart, 1857. Located in Crypt display case.
• King Kamehameha I
  Bronze by Thomas R. Gould, 1879. Located in the Capitol Visitor Center.
• Po'pay
  Marble by Cliff Fragua, 2005. Located in the Capitol Visitor Center.
• Will Rogers
  Bronze by Jo Davidson, 1939. Located in the House Connecting Corridor, second floor.
• Sakakawea
  Bronze by Leonard Crunelle, 1909 (copied by Arizona Bronze Atelier in 2003). Located in the Capitol Visitor Center.
• Sequoyah
  Bronze by Vinnie Ream Hoxie, 1917. Located in National Statuary Hall.
• Chief Standing Bear
  Bronze by Benjamin Victor, 2019. Located in National Statuary Hall.
• Chief Washakie
  Bronze by Dave McGary, 2000. Located in the Capitol Visitor Center.
• Sarah Winnemucca
  Bronze by Benjamin Victor, 2005. Located in the Capitol Visitor Center.
• Progress of Civilization
  Figures modeled in Rome by Thomas Crawford in 1854; marble carved at the Capitol in 1855–1859, erected in 1863. Located on the Senate wing pediment.

Sculpture—Bronze Doors

• Columbus Doors
  Designed and modeled by Randolph Rogers in 1858; bronze cast in 1861, installed in 1863.
  • The Landing of Columbus in the New World
  • Columbus's First Encounter with the Indians
  • Entry of Columbus into Barcelona
  • Columbus In Chains
• House Doors
  Designed by Thomas Crawford in 1855–1857, models made in 1863–1867; bronze cast in 1903, installed in 1905.
  • Massacre of Wyoming, Pennsylvania, July 3, 1778

Formerly on View

• Discovery of America
  Marble by Luigi Persico, erected 1844. In storage (formerly on East Front).
• Rescue
  Marble by Horatio Greenough, erected 1853. In storage (formerly on East Front).
• Victory Bringing Forth Young America, base of statue of John Marshall
  Bas relief in marble by William Wetmore Story, 1883. Statue moved to Supreme Court Building; base in storage (formerly on U.S. Capitol Grounds, West Front).