ABSTRACT
Mary Edmonia Lewis's portrayal of Minnehaha is that of an idealized Indian princess whose beads and feather adorn her neoclassical Caucasian features, an interpretation which fits comfortably within the stereotypical conventions that informed contemporary portrayals of Native American women. For Lewis, her parentage was seen as more remarkable than her decision to work in a medium traditionally deemed a pursuit for male artists. Documenting the facts of Lewis's life has proved an elusive task for historians. The colorful biographical anecdotes published about her, often affirmed and embroidered by Lewis herself, are quite often at odds with what little has been discovered about her youth. The various permutations of Lewis's life story which appeared in the popular press provide a glimpse into the mythic constructs of Indian womanhood that became the artist's public persona. Lewis's Native American subjects certainly reflected her canny understanding of the power and importance of the mythic Indian in white American culture.
