Young Chief, Cayuse Indian

Olin Levi Warner

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

"Young Chief, Cayuse Indian" was one of seven portraits of Indigenous Americans that Warner modeled in 1891 while in the Pacific Northwest. After the death of Poor Crane (Ya-Tin-Ee-Ah-Witz), chief of the Cayuse, Young Chief, who was living on the Umatilla Reservation, became the new leader, serving until his death in 1901. In contrast to Poor Crane, Seltice, and the other Native elders whom Warner depicted, Young Chief represented a younger generation who grew up experiencing the full effects of Euro-American encroachment and assimilation on their communities.

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