Ball Playing among the Sioux Indians

Seth Eastman

National Gallery of Art

This painting shows a scene with people engaged in a sport or game. The people wear vibrant clothes in shades of brown, orange, yellow, pink, and green, embellished with feathers and silver jewelry. The people all have light brown skin and long dark hair, and many of them have feathers in their hair. All the people in the middle of the painting hold sticks with small nets at the end, and they all appear to be lunging towards a small ball on the ground. In the background is a dramatic landscape with tall purple mountains, green hills, and large pink-and-white clouds sweeping across the blue sky.