Photographs of Teton Sioux Indian Delegation: Oncapapa, Chawana, Cut Head and Tachana

First published in 1872, Alexander Gardner’s Photographs of Teton Sioux Indian Delegation: Oncapapa, Chawana, Cut Head and Tachana preserves one of the most striking visual records of Indigenous leadership and identity in nineteenth-century America.

A master photographer of the Civil War and the western frontier, Gardner turned his lens toward the visiting Teton Sioux delegation—leaders of the Oncapapa, Chawana, Cut Head, and Tachana bands—who traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with U.S. officials. His portraits, rendered in exquisite detail, capture the dignity, strength, and presence of these men at a moment of negotiation and cultural upheaval. Each image stands as both documentary evidence and profound human testimony, preserving faces that speak across time.

Part ethnographic record, part work of art, Photographs of Teton Sioux Indian Delegation endures as a cornerstone of early American photography and Native history, uniting artistic mastery with historical witness.

Complete and unabridged edition of Alexander Gardner’s 1872 photographic series

Authentic record of Teton Sioux leaders from the Oncapapa, Chawana, Cut Head, and Tachana bands

A vital resource for scholars of Native American history, photography, and 19th-century diplomacy

Essential for collectors of frontier imagery, ethnographic portraiture, and early Americana