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DiaporamaIn all of your intercourse with the natives, treat them in the most friendly and conciliatory manner which thier own conduct will admit... Jefferson to Lewis & Clark, 1803
- 1956
- 41.0 x 31.0 cm
Jacob Lawrence (1917 – 2000)
Discover Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000), a pivotal African American artist of the Harlem Renaissance. Known for his 'dynamic cubism' & powerful depictions of Black life, history, and social justice.
This panel’s title comes from a letter President Thomas Jefferson wrote to Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark, who were leading an expedition across the American West. Despite Jefferson’s general disregard for Indigenous rights, he asked that the explorers approach Native peoples with cautious respect—to befriend them, attempt to develop trade relations, and collect artifacts. The painting features the expedition’s translator and guide, a Lemhi Shoshone woman named Sacagawea, in a moment of recognition that Clark recorded in a journal entry on August 13, 1805. After the group encountered the Shoshone (in present-day Idaho), Sacagawea acknowledges her brother, Chief Cameahwait, from whom she had been separated since childhood. Lawrence depicted the siblings dressed in vibrant red and blue, imagining a tender reunion by conjoining their strong, columnar forms.
About this artwork
- Title: In all of your intercourse with the natives, treat them in the most friendly and conciliatory manner which thier own conduct will admit... Jefferson to Lewis & Clark, 1803
- Artist: Jacob Lawrence
- Year: 1956
- Original dimensions: 41.0 x 31.0 cm
- Format: Portrait
- Copyright status: Under copyright
- Color intensity: Vivid
- Perceived brightness: shadow
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