American Art Collaborative

“The son of [Hidatsa chief] Black Moccasin . . . who is reputed one of the most desperate warriors of his tribe, I have also painted at full length, in his war-dress, with his bow in his hand, his quiver slung, and his shield upon his arm. In this plight, [without] headdress, [without] robe, and [without] everything that might be an useless incumbrance---with the body chiefly naked, and profusely bedaubed with red and black paint, so as to form an almost perfect disguise, the Indian warriors invariably sally forth to war.” George Catlin painted Red Thunder at a Hidatsa village in 1832. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 1, no. 23, 1841; reprint 1973)