Seet-sé-be-a, Midday Sun, a Pretty Girl

George Catlin, born Wilkes-Barre, PA 1796-died Jersey City, NJ 1872 · 1832

George Catlin explained that his model, a young Hidatsa woman, was “a descendent from the old chief . . . a fair sample of them, and dressed in beautiful costume of the mountain-sheep skin, handsomely garnished with porcupine quills and beads.” The young girl had repeatedly refused to let Catlin paint her portrait, claiming that she was not pretty enough for such an honor. But her relatives insisted that she sit for Catlin, who described her as “more than comely.” (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 1, no. 23, 1841; reprint 1973)