Rantchewaime (also known as Rent-Che-Was-Me) was an Ioway (Iowa/Báxoje) woman and the favored wife of Chief Mahaska, or White Cloud. She and the Chief were part of an 1824 delegation to Washington, D.C. There, American artist Charles Bird King painted their portraits for a federal “Indian Gallery” which was later reproduced in McKenney and Hall’s influential book “History of the Indian Tribes of North America, with Biographical Sketches and Anecdotes of the Principal Chiefs” on Native nations. Her name translates as “Female Flying Pigeon.” She was remembered for beauty and dignity. Later writers record that Ioway chiefs named her “the Beautiful Female Eagle that Flies in the Air,” honoring her status. In this panel, King echoes that esteem through careful dress, layered necklaces, diplomatic fan, and calm, frontal gaze rather than theatrical costume or inflammatory scenes of war. She stands before a dark, undefined background, her body angled slightly as her eyes avoid ours. Her medium-brown skin is modeled by soft light that picks out the bridge of her nose, rounded cheeks, and gently closed mouth. Long dark hair with thick red horizontal streaks is center-parted and braided, falling over her shoulders. She wears a dotted pink dress partly wrapped in a pale blanket. Her neck is adorned with layered strands of blue and white beads and gleaming silver pendants. Drop earrings frame her face. Her right hand holds a round feather fan either a red circle marking, its soft plumes pressed close to her chest so that fan, jewelry, and gaze create a quiet triangle of presence and power. Accounts describe her returning west and calling Ioway women together to speak about what she had witnessed in white society and to warn against destructive habits. Knowing that story, the fan, jewelry, and steady gaze in this panel suggest not simply a catalogued “type” but a moral leader and diplomatic partner whose presence complicates how we read these early American portraits.
“Rent-Che-Was-Me, Mak-Hos-Kah’s Wife (Female Flying Pigeon)” by Charles Bird King (American) - Oil on panel / 1825 - Gilcrease Museum (Tulsa, Oklahoma) #WomenInArt #art #artText #BlueskyArt #CharlesBirdKing #GilcreaseMuseum #PortraitofaWoman #NativeAmericanArt #Gilcrease #IndigenousWomen #1820sArt
