Flathead Indians

George Catlin

National Gallery of Art

This painting shows four people standing by the edge of a body of water, with two of the people close to us and two farther away. They are all facing the left, towards the pale blue water that is framed by large gray rocks. In the pair closest to us, a person is standing with one leg forward, holding a large fish in both hands. They have long, dark hair, and they are wearing several earrings in their visible ear and a skirt made of thin strips of brown fringe or fibers with a colorful yellow-and-red belt. Hanging on their back is a child in cradle, swaddled in tan cloth decorated with colorful yellow bands. Behind them stands another adult who is wrapped in a light-colored blanket with a red stripe along the edges. Below the blanket, they wear tan pants and tan shoes with small dots of yellow, blue, and red. Beside these people, on the grassy ground, is a basket of gray fish. The pair that is farther away is painted with less detail, but one person appears to stand and fire an arrow into the water, while the other sits next to a basket of fish, holding one of the fish up. All of the people have light brown skin and long, dark hair. The setting appears to be outdoors, with a blurred background in shades of green and blue. The painting is surrounded by a border of off-white paper.