Tul-lock-chísh-ko, Drinks the Juice of the Stone

About this artwork

“[The Choctaw] seem, even in their troubles, to be happy; and have, like all the other remnants of tribes, preserved with great tenacity their different games, which it would seem they are everlastingly practicing for want of other occupations or amusements in life. Whilst I was staying at the Choctaw agency in the midst of their nation, it seemed to be a sort of season of amusements, a kind of holiday; when the whole tribe almost, were assembled around the establishment, and from day to day we ...

Art Historical Context

George Catlin's *Tul-lock-chísh-ko, Drinks Juice of the Stone* (1834) is a compelling waist-length portrait of a Choctaw man, captured traditional Indian dress at Fort Gibson in the Arkansas Territory. Cat, a pioneering 19th-century artist dedicated to documenting Native American life, painted this during his travels among tribes facing displacement amid U.S. expansion. The evocative name, translating poetically to "Drinks Juice of the Stone," at the subject's stature, possibly a leader or notable figure in Choctaw society. In his *Letters and Notes* (1841), Catlin vividly described the Choctaw at their agency as resilient and joyful amid hardship, preserving games like ball-playing, horse-racing, and wrestling as cultural lifelines. This painting emerged from such a "season of amusements," reflecting the tribe's tenacity during a era of upheaval, including the looming Trail of Tears. Catlin's oil portrait preserves not just a face, but a snapshot of vibrant traditions on the brink of change. As part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection, this work exemplifies Catlin's documentary style—realistic yet romanticized—to educate Eastern audiences about indigenous peoples, underscoring the urgent cultural significance of his Indian Gallery series.

About the Artist

George Catlin · 1796–1872

George Catlin (1796–1872), born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to Putnam Catlin and Polly Sutton—who had been captured by Native Americans during the 1778 Battle of Wyoming—initially pursued a legal career. Trained at Litchfield Law School, he was admitted to the bar in 1819 but abandoned law after two years to study art in Philadelphia in 1823. Self-taught as a portraitist, Catlin quickly gained ...