MCKENNEY, Thomas L. (1785-1859) and James HALL (1793-1868)

Els-Kwau-Ta-Waw, [Tenskautawaw] The Open Door

Philadelphia: E. C. Biddle, 1833. Hand-coloured lithograph. Excellent condition. Sheet size: 20 x 14 1/2 inches.

A fine image from McKenney and Hall's 'Indian Tribes of North America': `One of the most important [works] ever published on the American Indians' (Field),` a landmark in American culture' (Horan) and an invaluable contemporary record of a vanished way of life.

McKenney got the name wrong on the early impression of this man's portrait. The name should have been and was later changed to Tenskwatawa. He was the brother of Tecumseh, but he played an important role of his own in trying to save the Native Americans' way of life. Tenskwatawa had been an alcoholic during late 1790s and early 1800s when Tecumseh, who didn't drink, fought the American forces under General Arthur St. Clair and Anthony Wayne. In 1805, Tenskwatawa had a religious conversion. He stopped drinking and became a wandering orator, known as the Prophet. His two main goals were to unite Native Americans against the whites and to fight alcoholism. Both brothers sought to form a confederacy of Indian nations. Tenskwatawa fought General Harrison at Tippecanoe to a draw, but the battle represented an effective end to Indian resistance. Tecumseh exiled his brother for having fought the battle before the confederacy was achieved. McKenney and Hall's 'Indian Tribes of North America' has long been renowned for its faithful portraits of Native Americans. The portraits are largely based on paintings by the artist Charles Bird King, who was employed by the War Department to paint the Indian delegates visiting Washington D.C., forming the basis of the War Department's Indian Gallery. Most of King's original paintings were subsequently destroyed in a fire at the Smithsonian, and their appearance in McKenney and Hall's magnificent work is thus our only record of the likenesses of many of the most prominent Indian leaders of the nineteenth century. Numbered among King's sitters were Sequoyah, Red Jacket, Major Ridge, Keokuk, and Black Hawk. After six years as Superintendent of Indian Trade, Thomas McKenney had become concerned for the survival of the Western tribes. He had observed unscrupulous individuals taking advantage of the Native Americans for profit, and his vocal warnings about their future prompted his appointment by President Monroe to the Office of Indian Affairs. As first director, McKenney was to improve the administration of Indian programs in various government offices. His first trip was during the summer of 1826 to the Lake Superior area for a treaty with the Chippewa, opening mineral rights on their land. In 1827, he journeyed west again for a treaty with the Chippewa, Menominee , and Winebago in the present state of Michigan. His journeys provided an unparalleled opportunity to become acquainted with Native American tribes. When President Jackson dismissed him from his government post in 1830, McKenney was able to turn more of his attention to his publishing project. Within a few years, he was joined by James Hall, a lawyer who had written extensively about the west. McKenney and Hall saw their work as a way of preserving an accurate visual record of a rapidly disappearing culture. (Gilreath).

Cf. Howes M129; cf. Bennett 79; cf. Field 992; cf. Lipperheide Mc 4; cf. Reese American Color Plate Books 24; cf. Sabin 43410a.

Item #39629

Price: $700.00