"Figuring the Great Chiefs: Iroquois Portraiture From Verelst to Catlin," examines the turn to depicting specific Native leaders and the invention of the category of the ‘Great Chiefs’ in Anglo-American culture. I am particularly interested in the place of the portrait as it relates to the larger issues of the representation of authority, political alliance, cultural loyalty, and sovereignty. The chapter focuses on Joseph Brant and concludes with a reading of Zacharie Vincent, a late nineteenth-century Huron painter living in Montreal, who painted numerous self-portraits. His works constitute one of the first entrances of a Northeastern Indian into the fine arts tradition as it was defined in the period and manifest his own interpretation of Indian identity and its representation.

All papers are pre-circulated electronically to those who plan to attend the seminar in person. For a copy of the paper, e-mail Jenny Butler at scholl@newberry.org, or call (312) 255-3524.

The Newberry Library Seminar in Early American History and Culture is co-sponsored by the University of Chicago, DePaul University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Northern Illinois University, and Northwestern University