BRISCOE Western Art Museum – George Catlin’s Native American Life

The Briscoe Museum of Western Art in Downtown San Antonio has a magnificent collection focused on Western Art. The day ARTS&FOOD® spent in the museum was a relaxing and excellent learning experience – filled with both contemporary and traditional western art, plus the history of life in the frontier West and in the early days of San Antonio.

Enjoy this Special Exhibition at the Briscoe Museum of Western Art’s showing artist George Catlin’s work. These are multi-layered color lithographic prints, giving us a glimpse into Native American life in the 19th century, but it also shows what life was like for Native Americans during most of the 10,000 years they populated this vast land, we now call North America.

George Catlin, (July 26, 1796 – December 23, 1872) was an American painter, author, and traveler, who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the western territories. Traveling to the American West five times during the 1830s, Catlin was the first white man to depict Plains Indians in their native territory.

There is so much to see at the Briscoe. It is a museum for traditional and contemporary art lovers alike. This venue with their excellent special exhibitions, is a must-see for all interested in the visual arts, while in San Antonio.

LACROSSE (the sport) has its origins in a tribal ball game played by Native American Indian Tribes.

Below is a sample of beautiful Native American Indian equipment and outfits, by artist George Catlin now on display at The Briscoe Museum of Western Art.

Lacrosse was originally a tribal game played by eastern Woodlands Native Americans and by some Plains Tribes in what is now the United States of America and Canada.
The tribes believed the game of lacrosse was a gift from The Creator and he gave it to the people for his entertainment and enjoyment. They also believed Lacrosse had ceremonial and spiritual significance for them, thus the reason to always play with a “good mind”.
Many times lacrosse was used in place of physical warfare between feuding nations. A brutal match consisting of hundreds of warriors, a wooden ball, and lack of padding made for a ferocious battle that could last for days and stretch across acres or even miles of land. The goal was usually between two large trees at the ends of each boundary and traditional handmade wooden sticks with leather nets were used to throw a heavy softball sized wooden or rock ball thru the opposing team’s goal. The rules and penalties of the historic lacrosse game were nonexistent; the players were fierce warriors who took pride in their agility and bravery to aquire the ball and make a goal.
Obviously: the game has been extensively modified, with rules added, and newly designed equipment changed, to form the sport we know of today… as “Lacrosse”.
Lacrosse sticks have changed since the origins of the game, played by Native American Indians.