Collection
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American Art

The Dying Indian

Charles Cary Rumsey

1 of 6

Object Label

As part of his 2020 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, Jeffrey Gibson commissioned a pair of beaded moccasins from the artist John Little Sun Murie to adorn this early twentieth-century bronze, which portrays a stereotyped “dying” Native warrior. Through this gesture, Gibson and Murie interrupt the myth that Native Americans were doomed to extinction, one perpetuated by traditional narratives of U.S. history and sculptures like this one.

The title of Murie’s moccasins, rendered in beadwork at Gibson’s request along each shoe’s buckskin edge, comes from Roberta Flack’s song “See You Then.” Gibson and Murie honor the Native subject rendered anonymous by the sculpture’s original artist, reclaiming his story as one of dignity, strength, and survival.

Caption

Charles Cary Rumsey (American, 1879–1922). The Dying Indian, 1900s. Bronze, 113 × 101 × 31 in., 1591 lb. (287 × 256.5 × 78.7 cm, 721.67kg) sight measurement June 29 2018: 98 × 34 × 111 in. (248.9 × 86.4 × 281.9 cm) storage (2022 storage volume on custom skid): 104 × 116 × 19 in. (264.2 × 294.6 × 48.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. Charles Cary Rumsey, 30.917. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

American Art

Title

The Dying Indian

Date

1900s

Medium

Bronze

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

113 × 101 × 31 in., 1591 lb. (287 × 256.5 × 78.7 cm, 721.67kg) sight measurement June 29 2018: 98 × 34 × 111 in. (248.9 × 86.4 × 281.9 cm) storage (2022 storage volume on custom skid): 104 × 116 × 19 in. (264.2 × 294.6 × 48.3 cm)

Signatures

Inscribed on base near proper left rear foot of horse: "C. C. Rumsey. Paris. 190[?]"

Markings

Incised on proper right side of base at back: "H. ROUARD. Fondeur. PARIS"

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Charles Cary Rumsey

Accession Number

30.917

Frequent Art Questions

  • Can you tell me more about the bronze horse and rider on the other side of the parking lot? That’s a sad figure. Is it a Remington?

    That sculpture features a slouched Native American man atop a starving horse, a reference to the symbolic plight of the defeated warrior. It was carved by Charles Cary Rumsey in the 1900s.
    It does recall Remington's "Outlier," on the fifth floor and its "vanishing Indian" rhetoric.
    Why is it outside?
    It was first installed on the front steps of the facade, but was moved in 1934 when the facade underwent renovations.

Have information?

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Artists and makers

Charles Cary Rumsey

2 works in the collection