Etow Oh Koam King of the River Nation

Creator

John Verelst John Simon

Place

[London]

Date

[1710]; 1701-1750

Notes

Portrait of Etow Oh Koam, with tattoos on his face, holding a ball club with a tortoise beside him. Artifacts include sword, hatchet or tomahawk, and moccasins. In the background is a scene of a battle with war clubs.

Etow Oh Koam or Etawa Caume, baptised as Nicholas, was a member of the Tortoise clan of the Mohawks. He may have been a member of the Schacook or Mohican tribe whom the English called River Indians, but adopted by the Mohawks. He was one of the four sachem of the Five Nation Iroquois Confederacy who traveled to England to ask for assistance against the French. Queen Anne commissioned Jan [or John] Verelst, a Dutch painter, to paint the portraits of the "Four Indian Kings." The original painting is in the National Archives of Canada.

Part of

En710 V492e