Pigeons Egg Head by Julia Nackley
Pigeons Egg Head is a painting done by George Catlin in the 1830’s. The painting tells a story of a native who goes to Washington D.C and comes back. The picture has a faint line down the middle which makes it look like it could be two different pieces of artwork, but when put together they mean a lot more.
When looking at the left side of the painting you see an Indian. He is wearing a colorful coat and a very ornate feather head dress. He appears to look confident with his head held high and he is holding what is thought to be a piece rod in his hand. In the distance of the background behind him you can see modern looking buildings which symbolize Washington D.C.
On the right side of the painting, you can see another guy in a modern outfit such as a nice coat, pants, and a top hat. He is the same guy, but this time he is on his way back to his tribe. The tepees in the distance of the background on this side tell that he is on his way back. He is a very changed person on the right side. He has literally turned his back on his old self. He is smoking a cigar in his mouth and in the back of his coat there appears to be alcohol bottles. The bottles are significant because in the “Red Jacket speech” the natives specifically say how the colonists had poisoned then with their ardent spirits which was their alcohol, and the fact that he is coming back with bottles of it speaks volumes.
On the right side he is also no longer wearing his original moccasins and one of the only things left about his from the left are his earrings. This painting is an immensely powerful image of what happened to the natives. The colonists came into their land and tried to change them to what they wanted them to be. Although not all of them would have changed this greatly it still gives a good representation of the idea of what happened to them.
