George Catlin Quotes
If my life be spared, nothing shall stop me short of visiting every nation of Indians on the Continent of North America.
Catlin, George. Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians. Vol. 1, Published by the author, 1841, p. 3.
The Prime Minister, as a young child, had immigrated to America:
President Thomas Jefferson and the Congress worked at making a workable set of relationships with the Indians. Here Congress gave Jefferson a fund so that he could invite influential Indian leaders to Washington and give them presents. The hope was that the Indian leaders would see the achievements of white society and then work to transform their people to this more desirable way of life. While this was a good strategy with a few Indian nations, the reaction of most Indian leaders was being very impressed but not really wanting to trade their existing lifestyle, customs and values for the undeniable advantages that American society could bring. Both the white and Indian leadership miscalculated, Jefferson believed that as soon as the Indian leaders could examine the two alternative societies, they would clearly choose to change. The Indians were so impressed with the sincerity, reasonableness, and friendliness that the white leadership exhibited, that the Indians did not realize that a large part of white society was different from the leadership and that the leaders spoke for and could control the other whites.
George Catlin was an American lawyer, painter, author, and traveler, who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the Old West.
