Boudoir card by J. N. Choate, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, depicting five Sioux chiefs with U.S. Indian Agent Major Charles Hatton. The sitters are identified in period handwriting on the verso as Black Coal, Head Chief; Sharp Nose, War Chief; Iron, Third Chief; Little Wolf, Chief Medicine Man; and White Horse. The group is formally posed before a painted studio backdrop, with the Native leaders wearing beaded chokers, bone breastplates, and holding ceremonial pipes. Major Hatton stands in the center wearing a dark suit, positioned between Sharp Nose and White Horse.

The image was produced during a visit to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, a key institution in the federal government’s assimilation program for Native Americans in the late 19th century. The reverse includes Choate’s printed promotional text listing various photographic subjects available for purchase, including images of visiting tribal leaders, students, and school buildings. The personal annotations further link this specific print to the moment of the chiefs’ visit, providing valuable provenance and identification of each sitter.

Choate’s work at Carlisle serves as a significant visual record of the complex and often coercive intersections between Native American leaders and U.S. governmental authorities during the era of Indian boarding schools. This photograph stands as both a portrait of prominent Sioux figures and a historical artifact reflecting the political and cultural dynamics of the period.