Omaha Boy

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

Omaha Boy

Date

May 4, 1833

Dimensions

10 7/8 × 7 7/8 in. (27.6 × 20 cm)

Medium

Watercolor and graphite on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.372

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

The father of this Omaha child is pictured in Image 1986.49.236. He painted his son's face with vermillion for the occasion of the boy's portrait. In Omaha tribal organization there were ten distinct kinship groups, or gentes, each with its own ritual obligations. From the age of two or three until the age of seven or eight, a boy's hair was cut in a specific style that identified him as belonging to one of these groups and impressed upon each child the kinship affiliations of his playmates. This boy's portrait was reproduced as a woodcut in Travels in the Interior of North America.

References in Journal

May 4, 1833

Labels:

genre, portrait , Bellevue, Nebraska

Approximate Depicted Location:

Bellevue, Nebraska