Mais Catlin

Credit: ©National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Em 1849 o pintor inglês William Fisk completou este retrato de George Catlin. Nessa época com 53 anos de idade, Catlin estava vivendo na Inglaterra com sua família, ganhando a vida com a venda de cópias de suas pinturas do Oeste Norte-Americano, como estas de Black Foot Warrior Iron Horn e de The Woman Who Strikes Many, que podem ser vistas detrás dele.

I LOVE THE PEOPLE:

WHO HAVE ALWAYS MADE ME WELCOME TO THE BEST THEY HAD.

WHO ARE HONEST WITHOUT LAWS,

WHO HAVE NO JAILS AND NO POORHOUSES.

WHO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS WITHOUT EVER HAVING READ THEM

OR HEARD THEM PREACHED FROM THE PULPIT.

WHO NEVER SWEAR,

WHO NEVER TAKE THE NAME OF GOD IN VAIN.

WHO LOVE THEIR NEIGHBORS AS THEY LOVE THEMSELVES.

WHO WORSHIP GOD WITHOUT A BIBLE,

FOR I BELIEVE THAT GOD LOVES THEM ALSO.

WHOSE RELIGON IS ALL THE SAME,

AND WHO ARE FREE FROM RELIGIOUS ANIMOSITIES.

WHO HAVE NEVER RAISED A HAND AGAINST ME, OR STOLEN MY PROPERTY,

WHEN THERE WAS NO LAW TO PUNISH FOR EITHER.

WHO HAVE NEVER FOUGHT A BATTLE WITH THE WHITE MEN

EXCEPT ON THEIR OWN GROUND.

WHO LIVE AND KEEP WHAT IS THEIR OWN WITHOUT LOCKS AND KEYS.

I LOVE ALL PEOPLE WHO DO THE BEST THEY CAN.

AND OH, HOW I LOVE A PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIVE FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY!

poema de George Catlin (1796-1872)