Historians of the Tribe
1894
oil
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
1894
oil
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
You see five Native men inside a dim tent, bent over books or scrolls, while an elder watches from the shadows. Remington painted this around 1890, right after the Wounded Knee massacre ended decades of conflict. The men aren’t fighting—they’re recording their history, but their slumped shoulders suggest defeat. The scene feels like a quiet goodbye to a way of life. For another look at how artists showed Native Americans in this era, check out the technique called *chiaroscuro*.
