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"Joseph," Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekht, Chief of the "Nez Percé" Indians

Founder Cast by John Williams American
1889; cast 1906
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 766
Chief Joseph (1840–1904) was hailed for his leadership of the Nez Perce peoples during settlement disputes with the US government in the 1870s. His resistance to relocation to designated reservation land inspired sympathy from many Americans, especially after his forced surrender to federal troops in 1877, just miles from reaching freedom in Canada. Following years of exile in Oklahoma, Chief Joseph eventually settled on the Colville Reservation in northern Washington State. Chief Joseph sanctioned the dissemination of his well-known image in art and popular media to draw attention to the tragic plight of the Nez Perce. This portrait’s display at the Columbian Exposition served as a powerful, elegiac comment on the "closing of the frontier" through Euro-American settlement.

Warner’s patron Charles Erskine Scott Wood, who first met Chief Joseph in 1877, arranged for him to pose for the sculptor in 1889. Both were in Portland, Oregon at the time—Joseph to advocate for Nez Perce rights, and Warner to complete portrait commissions. The sitter’s given name appears in a vertical inscription in both English and Nimipuutímt, the Nez Perce language, translated as Thunder Traveling to Higher Areas.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "Joseph," Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekht, Chief of the "Nez Percé" Indians
  • Artist: Olin Levi Warner (American, West Suffield, Connecticut 1844–1896 New York)
  • Founder: Cast by John Williams (American, New York, ca. 1875–ca. 1953)
  • Date: 1889; cast 1906
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: Other (Object diameter): 17 1/2in. (44.5cm)
    Framed: 22 × 2 in., 16 lb. (55.9 × 5.1 cm, 7.3 kg)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick S. Wait, 1906
  • Object Number: 06.313
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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