Tshanny, a Choctaw Man

Description

At the time of Bodmer's visit to New Orleans, the Choctaws had only recently signed treaties with the government agreeing to exchange ancestral holdings east of the Mississippi for land north of the Red River in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. Not all tribesmen affected by these provisions chose to migrate westward, and scattered groups remained behind to eke out an uncertain existence in the settlements along the Mississippi. Such a one was Tshanny, a Choctaw painted by Bodmer at New Orleans. The watercolor is dated January 18.