N-Che-Askwe, Chief of the Coeur d'Alenes

Olin Levi Warner

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

"N-Che-Askwe, Chief of the Coeur d'Alenes" was one of seven portraits of Native Americans that Olin Warner modeled in 1891 while in Oregon. At that time N-Che-Askwe, which translates to "the old man with a staff," was ninety-eight years old. He served for many years as chief of the Coeur d'Alene, or Schitsu’umsh, in the tribe’s ancient language.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art