Dacotah Encampment, Seth Eastman, 1849–55
Seth Eastman, portraitSeth EastmanAmerican, 1808–1875

Dacotah Encampment

1849–55 · Drawing

Can I see it?

Not on view at present

Where is “Dacotah Encampment” now? Collection: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Minneapolis, United States

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked
In this state since
Source
The museum

About the work

Before Captain Eastman’s long residence at Fort Snelling, he was posted there briefly in 1830 as a 22-year-old lieutenant. Within a year, he had married a Dakota chief’s daughter, Wakaninajinwin, or Stands Sacred, and had a daughter, known as Nancy Eastman. Although Eastman would return to the fort ten years later with a new wife, this early union undoubtedly opened him to the domestic side of Dakota life. Here he records small everyday activities against a sea of tipis, all constructed by women.

This watercolor, one of 35 works on paper by Eastman in Mia’s collection, was the basis for an illustration in Henry Rowe Schoolcraft’s massive Historical and Statistical Information Respecting the History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851-57).

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Details

Accession number
2014.31.1

In the catalog

Sources

All works

On view at Minneapolis Institute of Art

Museum page