Waa-Bin-De-Ba or the White Headed Eagle, a Chippeway Chief

These lithographs are from the first published collection of portraits of Native Americans, The Aboriginal Port-Folio. The artist, James Otto Lewis, based his images on sketches he made in the 1820s while accompanying U.S. government officials to treaty councils with Native American chiefs throughout the Great Lakes region— then the country’s western frontier. Despite his somewhat awkward handling of the human figure, Lewis carefully documented the distinctive appearance, costume, and accessories of his sitters. The Port-Folio served both as a firsthand record of Native individuals and as an influential model for other artists. By the time these lithographs were issued, Congress had passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which forced Native Americans from their lands and resettled them farther west.