McKenney and Hall, 1836-1844 - CAA-TOU-SEE. AN OJIBWAY., from History of the Indian Tribes of North America - ca. 1837-1844 - T-Shirt

This design is a hand-coloured lithographic portrait of Caa-Tou-See, an Ojibway leader, shown in a bust-length vignette with his arms folded.

Visual Elements & Composition

The portrait sits within a tall vertical rectangle, with the sitter filling most of the frame. The ground is a soft parchment cream, with off-white paper showing around the figure. Small accents of warm tan, navy blue and emerald green appear in the details, including the green face paint and the feathered headdress. The inscription "CAA-T'OO-SEE" and "AN OJIBWAY" anchors the image, set like a printed caption on an archival plate.

Meaning & Symbolism

The print comes from History of the Indian Tribes of North America, the collaboration between Thomas L. McKenney, former Superintendent of Indian Trade, and author and lawyer James Hall. Published between 1837 and 1844, the series recorded delegation leaders who visited Washington, D.C., at a time of intense relocation for the Ojibway people in the Great Lakes region. The headdress, face paint and formal pose are the artist's record of a named leader, preserved for a largely white American audience. Today the work remains a primary historical resource, read with awareness of the colonial assumptions that shaped how these figures were presented.

Crafted for the Wearer

A portrait built around a single figure suits a shirt, where the image sits at chest height and is seen up close in daily wear. The bust-length framing of Caa-Tou-See lines up naturally with the torso, so the face and headdress read clearly as the wearer moves. Each shirt carries the same archival plate, so the historical record stays intact.