A Pawnee brave stands in full-length pose for this albumen CDV, almost certainly produced during the 1860s or 1870s when studio portraiture of Plains peoples was actively pursued by frontier photographers. The subject faces the camera directly with a composed, unsmiling expression, holding a bow and several arrows crossed before him, while a heavy animal-hide robe is draped over his shoulders and upper body. A painted studio backdrop depicting trees and foliage fills the background behind him.

Two feathers rise from his hair, and a beaded or quilled choker-style necklace is visible at the throat above the robe. Fringed hide leggings or a breechcloth apron extend below the robe, and tall wrapped moccasins reach to just below the knee, tied with thong lacings.

The Pawnee were a confederacy of four bands historically centered in present-day Nebraska and Kansas, and many Pawnee men served as U.S. Army scouts during the Indian Wars of this same era, bringing them into frequent contact with frontier photographers. No photographer's imprint appears on the mount. The reverse bears a period pencil inscription reading "Pawnee Brave."