McKenney and Hall, 1836-1844 - ASSEOLA, A SEMINOLE LEADER., from History of the Indian Tribes of North America - ca. 1842 - T-Shirt

This hand-coloured lithograph shows Asseola, the Seminole war leader also known as Osceola, standing full-length in a composed, solemn pose.

Visual Elements & Composition

Cream paper forms the ground of the plate and takes up most of the image, with olive green and dull grass green filling the figure's tunic and the surrounding landscape. Brick red appears in his leggings, moccasins and headwrap, which carries a feather plume and draws the eye upward. A rifle is held upright beside him, and conical tepees sit in the background. Pale sky grey adds quiet tone at the edges. The composition is centred and vertical, with a rectangular title cartouche bearing the words "ASSEOLA." and "A SEMINOLE LEADER." at the base.

Meaning & Symbolism

Asseola led Seminole resistance during the Second Seminole War in Florida in the 1830s, when the United States pressed to remove Native nations under the Indian Removal Act. The rifle and the tepee camp mark him as both warrior and leader of a community defending its land. The portrait comes from History of the Indian Tribes of North America, compiled by Thomas L. McKenney and James Hall and published between 1836 and 1844. The series set out to record the cultures and prominent leaders of many tribes during rapid westward expansion, and this plate remains one of its most widely referenced images.

Cut for the Shirt

A full-length figure reads well on a tee, because the standing man and his upright rifle run the height of the chest, and the cartouche text sits where the eye lands first. The cream ground, olive and red tones give the print a vintage, archival feel against the fabric. Wearing this design means carrying a 19th-century record of a leader whose name still anchors the story of Seminole resistance.