1870s cabinet card portrait of the Kiowa warrior Otter Belt, taken by W.P. Bliss at his Fort Sill, Indian Territory studio. Captured in profile, Otter Belt wears a vest over a white shirt and is adorned with traditional facial paint and a twisted braid decorated with feathers—powerful symbols of his identity and status within the Kiowa community. The soft oval vignette framing emphasizes the solemn dignity and quiet intensity of the subject.

The reverse bears the distinctive imprint of Bliss, who was active at Fort Sill and became known for his extensive photographic documentation of Native peoples during the post–Civil War Indian Wars era. The pencil inscription at top appears to read, “Otter Belt, Comanche Chief,” though the subject is more accurately identified as Kiowa in origin.

An important and visually arresting portrait from the early reservation period, taken at a time when Fort Sill had become a central point of confinement, surveillance, and transition for Plains tribes. Examples of Bliss’s Kiowa portraits—especially of named individuals—are increasingly scarce and highly sought after.