Osceola Nick-a-no-chee, a Boy

George Catlin’s Indian Gallery attracted attention in New York and other eastern cities, but not enough paying customers to support the artist and his family. In November 1839, Catlin sailed for England in hopes of generating increased receipts and perhaps selling the Indian Gallery to a wealthy aristocrat. Nick-a-no-chee, a Seminole who was thought to be a nephew of the great Osceola, was a ready subject of sympathy in Britain, where the Indian policies of the United States were roundly condemned. He visited the Indian Gallery on a number of occasions, sometimes clothed in Indian garments from Catlin’s collection.