Chief Joseph the Younger

by Steve Henderson

Original - Not For Sale

Price

Not Specified

Dimensions

11.000 x 14.000 inches

Title

Chief Joseph the Younger

Artist

Steve Henderson

Medium

Painting - Pen On Paper

Description

There is a difference between a leader and a ruler.

Rulers, which have plagued mankind as a never-ending pandemic since the beginning of known history, are concerned with exerting power. Divinely or “democratically” elected, they focus their attention upon making rules: laws that govern the masses but from which they, the rulers, are generally exempt.

They see themselves as special, elite, necessary to the proper running of the world order because they are more intelligent, more gifted, more clever, more educated, more qualified.

Leaders, on the other hand, possess a humility that rulers lack. Because they see themselves as one of the people, not one over the people, they act for the good of all as opposed to the benefit of a few. It is not comfortable being a leader, and the perks of power – money, accolades, luxury, fame – do not necessarily accompany the position.

The artwork, Chief Joseph the Younger, is a portrait of a leader. A member of the Nez Perce tribe of what is now the Pacific Northwest interior, USA, Chief Joseph lived from 1840 to 1904. During his time, he traveled frequently to Washington D.C. to speak to the rulers there on behalf of his people, arguing for their basic human right to live in their homeland. He was a statesman, a peacemaker, a man of principle and honor in a world where there are few to deserve those titles.

He was never regarded, by the governing class of the New State, to equal their status, and thereby never accorded the respect that they deemed worthy of themselves. But Chief Joseph, unlike they, fought for his people because he considered himself equal to them. He is known for leading the flight of his band – including women, children, and the elderly – to Canada, where they hoped to find freedom. Stopped just before the border by the U.S. Army, they were sent like prisoners – along with their leader – to a reservation in Oklahoma.

Chief Joseph died on the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington State.

(The artwork, Young Chief Joseph, is based upon a photograph by Edward Curtis, a late 19th and early 20th century photographer who was commissioned by various ruling financial overlords to document the Native American people before they disappeared.)

Featured on 32 Fine Art America groups including 10 Plus.

Uploaded

March 9th, 2021

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