This is a representation of Raw-no-way-cooh-krah, one of the Ottoe chiefs. He is dressed in a tunic made of the entire skin of a grisly bear, with a head-dress of war-eagle’s quills. Mr. Catlin, who travelled among the Indians, and painted the portraits of many of them, has furnished us a great many amusing sketches of these children of the forest. Foppery and dandyism seem to be as common among them as among the inhabitants of towns and cities.

In the present instance, we think Raw-no-way-cooh-krah has the advantage over civilized dandies. He is clothed in the skin of a grisly bear, which he slew by his own prowess; and the eagle that furnished the feathers for his head-dress was brought down by his own arrow. Such an attire bespeaks action, and may fitly become a theme of exultation; but how a man should be proud of the gloss or cut of a coat which are produced by the skill of others, it is difficult to conceive.

From: Merry’s Museum. Vol. 9/10. New York, 1845.