McKenney and Hall, 1836-1844 - TO-KA-CON. A SIOUX CHIEF., from History of the Indian Tribes of North America - ca. 1838 - T-Shirt

This portrait shows To-Ka-Con, a Sioux chief, drawn as a single formal likeness from McKenney and Hall's History of the Indian Tribes of North America.

Visual Elements & Composition

The image is built around one figure, and the chief's face and bearing carry the composition. It is a hand-colored lithograph on paper, so colour sits over fine printed linework, giving the portrait a warm, worked surface. The placement is plain and measured, which keeps attention on the sitter rather than on decoration.

Meaning & Symbolism

Thomas McKenney, Superintendent of Indian Trade, led the project to record the likenesses of Native leaders who visited Washington, D.C., during the treaty-making of the 1830s and 1840s. The portraits derive largely from original paintings by Charles Bird King, which hung in the War Department's Indian Gallery before a fire destroyed them. To-Ka-Con's portrait therefore stands as a record of dignity and leadership at a time when traditional life was being reshaped by government policy and westward settlement. The publication is a complex historical artifact, and its value lies in documenting the diplomacy, leadership and sovereignty of Indigenous peoples in its era.

On the Unisex Heavy Cotton Tee

A portrait on a tee is seen in two ways: at a glance across a room, and up close when someone looks at the face. The front of the shirt gives the chief's likeness a clear field, so the image reads as a portrait first and a print second. Worn through the day, the sitter moves with you, and the historical record stays in view wherever you go.