SUN-A-GET or Hard Times; A Pottawatomie Chief, from The Aboriginal Portfolio

Art Historical Context

**SUN-A-GET or Times; A Pottawatomie Chief** (1835) by James Lewis is a poignant lithograph from *The Aboriginal Portfolio*, one the earliest published collections of Native American portraits. Lewis, a self-taught artist and traveler, sketched Indigenous leaders during gatherings like treaty signings in the 1820s, capturing their likenesses with remarkable detail before reproducing them via lithography—a revolutionary printing technique that allowed wider dissemination of these images. This portrait depicts Sun-a-Get, a Potawatomi (Pottawatomie) chief, whose name translates to "Hard Times," evoking the era's profound challenges. The 1830s marked intense U.S. government pressure on tribes through Indian removal policies, forcing many Potawatomi from ancestral lands in the Great Lakes region toward unfamiliar territories. Lewis's work preserves a visual record of Native dignity amid upheaval, offering museum visitors a window into vanishing cultures. Housed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, this print exemplifies early 19th-century graphic arts, blending portraiture with documentary intent. Its stark lines and expressive features highlight the chief's resilience, inviting reflection on history's human stories. A testament to Lewis's ambition, the portfolio faced financial woes but endures as cultural treasure.