Spearing Fish

Seth Eastman · 1850

Seth Eastman’s original title for this image was Indians Killing Fish. Rather than a leisurely outing, this is a hunt, which is clear from this pair’s alert poses. The distant blue water indicates the Mississippi will be calm and cooperative on this particular morning, but Eastman added a note of foreboding. The bare roots clinging to the eroding bank is a motif found in 17th-century Dutch landscapes, where it alluded to the destructive passage of time. This watercolor, one of 35 works on paper by Eastman in Mia’s collection, was the basis for an illustration in Henry Rowe Schoolcraft’s massive Historical and Statistical Information Respecting the History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851-57).