Carrie Cornplanter (1887–1918) was a Native American artist of the

Seneca tribe The Seneca ( ; ) are a group of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. Their nation was the farthe ...

. Little is recorded of Cornplanter's life save that she was the elder sister of

Jesse Cornplanter Jesse J. Cornplanter (September 16, 1889 – March 18, 1957) was an actor, artist, author, craftsman, Seneca Faithkeeper and decorated veteran of World War I. The last male descendant of Cornplanter, an important 18th-century Haudenosaunee ...

, had a sister named Anna, and had children of her own, and that her native name was "dédon". The three were descendants of Chief

Cornplanter John Abeel III (–February 18, 1836) known as Gaiänt'wakê (''Gyantwachia'' – "the planter") or Kaiiontwa'kon (''Kaintwakon'' – "By What One Plants") in the Seneca language and thus generally known as Cornplanter, was a Dutch- Seneca ch ...

and the daughters of Edward Cornplanter. Carrie's paintings are among the earliest known by an American Indian woman to depict traditional aspects of native life. Most were created during the last decade of the 19th century or the first decade of the 20th, and she was thus at a relatively young age when she made the paintings. One such work, ''Indian Squaws Pounding Corn'', is owned by the

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

. Dating to around 1900, it was donated to the museum in 1922 by Joseph W. Keppler, a friend of the principal benefactor of the museum

George Gustav Heye George Gustav Heye (1874 – January 20, 1957) was an American collector of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American Artifact (archaeology), artifacts in the Western Hemisphere, particularly in North America. He founded the Museum of t ...

. Keppler likely purchased the piece directly from the artist or from a member of her family. Carrie died in the

1918 flu pandemic The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, H1N1 subtype of the influenz ...

., page 210 Her sister Anna and two of Carrie's daughters were the only members of the family other than Jesse to survive; the children were left destitute by the loss of their mother and were placed in Jesse's care when he returned home from World War I in Europe.''Bulletin of the New York State Museum, 1920''. Section:
Death of Chief Edward Cornplanter
" pages 104 and 105.

References

External links

Indian Squaws Pounding Corn
by Carrie Cornplanter, at the

part 1-VOL XIII and Indian Cornhusk Dance
by Carrie Cornplanter at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. Artwork by brother

on back. 1887 births 1918 deaths 20th-century Native American artists 20th-century indigenous painters of the Americas 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters Beaver Clan of the Iroquois Seneca people Iroquois women Schuyler family American people of Dutch descent Native American painters Native American women artists Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in New York (state) {{US-painter-1880s-stub

See also

References

External links