Stomíck-Sosáck, Kainai Blackfoot Chief

The Kainai chief Stomíck-Sosáck (Bull Back Fat) and leaders from neighboring Piegan and Siksika nations played a prominent role in strategically opening Blackfoot territories to American traders in 1831. Pressed for time during Stomíck-Sosáck’s sitting, Bodmer focused on the man’s vermilion-painted face and colorful wool-and-hide shirt. He wears a presidential peace medal, showing the reverse, with its motif of clasped hands and a crossed tomahawk and pipe. Despite the watercolor’s unfinished state, Bodmer rendered the chief’s visage with remarkable fidelity. Upon viewing the picture nearly a century later, an elderly Blackfoot man named Weasel Tail immediately recognized Stomíck-Sosáck, as he had known his son. The famed leader was first painted by the artist-traveler George Catlin, who journeyed up the Missouri River a year before Bodmer and Maximilian.