United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives
Search the website

Rice Gatherers

Painting of Native American women in canoes surrounded by water lilies, some women row while others raise paddles to strike wild rice stalks/tiles/collection/3/3732.xml
Download this image
Painting of Native American women in canoes surrounded by water lilies, some women row while others raise paddles to strike wild rice stalks
Previous Next

Date

1867

Artist

Seth Eastman

Dimensions

31 3/4 × 40 3/4 in. (80.6 × 103.5 cm) Framed: 42 1/2 × 51 1/2 × 5 in. (108 × 130.8 × 12.7 cm)

Accession Number

2004.040.008

Credit Line

Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

Object Details

In his paintings completed for the House Committee on Indian Affairs, Seth Eastman includes specific details of traditional domestic tasks. These women are shown gathering wild rice, an important staple in the diets of the Northern Plains Indians. Stalks are harvested from the water, and then beaten with paddle-like implements. Though most of the paintings in this commission depict Dakotas, the birch bark canoes detailed in this painting indicate that Eastman is specifically illustrating Chippewas.

Rights and Reproduction Information

Jump To

View Related Objects

Gathering Wild Rice
Gathering Wild Rice
Indian Woman Dressing a Deer Skin
Indian Woman Dressing a Deer Skin
Spearing Fish in Winter
Spearing Fish in Winter

View Related Content

From the Blog: The Not-So-Lonesome West
From the Blog: The Not-So-Lonesome West
Portraits of Forts for the Committee on Military Affairs
Portraits of Forts for the Committee on Military Affairs
From the Blog: Veteran-Artists in the House Collection—Part II
From the Blog: Veteran-Artists in the House Collection—Part II
Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov