History of the Indian Tribes of North America
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| Author | Thomas L. McKenney, James Hall |
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| Illustrator | Three frontispieces after Peter Rindisbacher and Karl Bodmer, and 117 portrait plates after Henry Inman's copies of the original oil paintings mostly by Charles Bird King, drawn on stone by Albert Newsam, Alfred Hoffy, Ralph Tremblay, Henry Dacre, and others, printed and colored by J. T. Bowen and others. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | 3 volumes |
| Subject | United States History, Native Americans |
| Publisher | First edition of v. 1 published by E.C. Biddle, Philadelphia, 1836.; Volumes 2-3 published by D. Rice and J.G. Clark, 1842-44. |
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Publication date
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1836-1844 |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| OCLC | 3331971 |
The History of the Indian Tribes of North America is a three-volume collection of Native American biographies and accompanying lithograph portraits originally published in the United States from 1836 to 1844 by Thomas McKenney and James Hall. The majority of the portraits were first painted in oil by artist Charles Bird King. McKenney was working as the US Superintendent of Indian Trade and would head the Office of Indian Affairs, both then within the War Department. He planned publication of the biographical project to be supported by private subscription, as was typical for publishing of the time.
Believing that Native Americans were threatened as a race, McKenney wanted to preserve a record of their leaders for government archives, as well as to share it with the American people. He commissioned Charles Bird King to paint portraits of leaders who came to Washington to negotiate treaties, and James Hall to write biographies of them. The publication project incorporated lithographs made from the paintings.
From about 1821, Thomas McKenney, the U.S. Superintendent of Indian Trade within the War Department, started to commission portraits from Charles Bird King of American Indians who had traveled to Washington, D.C. as delegates to negotiate treaties with the federal government. McKenney continued this project as head of the Office of Indian Affairs. King painted portraits of American Indians up to 1837. Additional painters who were commissioned to paint portraits included James Otto Lewis, Peter Rindisbacher, and Henry Inman.
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