Catherine Weldon
Encyclopedia
Catherine Weldon was a 19th-century artist
and activist with the National Indian Defense Association. Weldon became confidante and private secretary to Sitting Bull
during the time when Plains Indians
had adopted the Ghost Dance movement
.
Her father was Johann Lukas Faesch, a career Swiss mercenary military officer serving in a Swiss regiment in France;
her mother was Anna Maria Barbara, née Marti. She arrived in America in 1852 at the age of 8 years, together with her mother,
settling in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. That year, her mother was remarried to the exiled German revolutionary, Dr. Karl Heinrich Valentiny
who ran a medical practice in Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, New York on May 30th 1866 Susanna Carolina Faesch was married to Dr. Bernhard Claudius
Schlatter, a physician and fellow Swiss. The marriage ended in divorce a few years later. Thereafter, she met and married Richard Weldon
who would eventually abandon her.
, especially the Lakota Indians in the Dakota Territory. She became an activist with the National Indian Defense Association.
In 1889 she traveled to Standing Rock Indian Reservation
. She volunteered to assist Chief Sitting Bull
of the Lakota, who did not write English. She wrote letters to the US government trying to argue his cause. Her activities caused much criticism, especially as she lived with the chief and his three wives. The US Indian Agent
James McLaughlin complained about her.
Weldon also painted four portraits of the chief. One is now held by the North Dakota Historical Society.
on the 15th December 1890 and the ensuing Massacre of Wounded Knee the following 29th December, for which she was blamed in the press as having agitated the Indians, Catherine Weldon returned to Brooklyn, NY where she would live the remainder of her life. Weldon died in her Brooklyn apartment, alone and obscure
on 15th March 1921. Cause of death was accidental third degree burns from a candle to her face and body. She was interred at the Valentiny family plot at Green Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY - Lot 13387, Section 41.
refers to Weldon and her life in his play The Ghost Dance and in his epic poem Omeros
. He features Native American history together with that of the demise of the Native Aruac people in St. Lucia, in the Caribbean
.
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and activist with the National Indian Defense Association. Weldon became confidante and private secretary to Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
during the time when Plains Indians
Plains Indians
The Plains Indians are the Indigenous peoples who live on the plains and rolling hills of the Great Plains of North America. Their colorful equestrian culture and resistance to White domination have made the Plains Indians an archetype in literature and art for American Indians everywhere.Plains...
had adopted the Ghost Dance movement
Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance was a new religious movement which was incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. The traditional ritual used in the Ghost Dance, the circle dance, has been used by many Native Americans since prehistoric times...
.
Early life and education
Catherine Weldon was born Susanna Carolina Faesch on the 4th December 1844 in Kleinhüningen, Canton Basel, Switzerland.Her father was Johann Lukas Faesch, a career Swiss mercenary military officer serving in a Swiss regiment in France;
her mother was Anna Maria Barbara, née Marti. She arrived in America in 1852 at the age of 8 years, together with her mother,
settling in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. That year, her mother was remarried to the exiled German revolutionary, Dr. Karl Heinrich Valentiny
who ran a medical practice in Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, New York on May 30th 1866 Susanna Carolina Faesch was married to Dr. Bernhard Claudius
Schlatter, a physician and fellow Swiss. The marriage ended in divorce a few years later. Thereafter, she met and married Richard Weldon
who would eventually abandon her.
Career
Weldon became an artist and married twice in New York. After her divorce from Dr. Bernhard Claudius Schlatter and later from Richard Weldon, she became committed to the cause of Native AmericansNative Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, especially the Lakota Indians in the Dakota Territory. She became an activist with the National Indian Defense Association.
In 1889 she traveled to Standing Rock Indian Reservation
Standing Rock Indian Reservation
The Standing Rock Indian Reservation is a Lakota, Yanktonai and Dakota Indian reservation in North Dakota and South Dakota in the United States...
. She volunteered to assist Chief Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
of the Lakota, who did not write English. She wrote letters to the US government trying to argue his cause. Her activities caused much criticism, especially as she lived with the chief and his three wives. The US Indian Agent
Indian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with Native American tribes on behalf of the U.S. government.-Indian agents:*Leander Clark was agent for the Sac and Fox in Iowa beginning in 1866....
James McLaughlin complained about her.
Weldon also painted four portraits of the chief. One is now held by the North Dakota Historical Society.
Later life
After the death of Sitting BullSitting Bull
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
on the 15th December 1890 and the ensuing Massacre of Wounded Knee the following 29th December, for which she was blamed in the press as having agitated the Indians, Catherine Weldon returned to Brooklyn, NY where she would live the remainder of her life. Weldon died in her Brooklyn apartment, alone and obscure
on 15th March 1921. Cause of death was accidental third degree burns from a candle to her face and body. She was interred at the Valentiny family plot at Green Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY - Lot 13387, Section 41.
In popular culture
The poet and playwright Derek WalcottDerek Walcott
Derek Alton Walcott, OBE OCC is a Saint Lucian poet, playwright, writer and visual artist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 and the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2011 for White Egrets. His works include the Homeric epic Omeros...
refers to Weldon and her life in his play The Ghost Dance and in his epic poem Omeros
Omeros
Omeros is a 1990 epic poem by Nobel Prize-winning author Derek Walcott. Many consider it his finest work.-Overview:The epic is set on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. Although its name is Omeros it has just a minor touch of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.The narrative of Omeros is multilayered...
. He features Native American history together with that of the demise of the Native Aruac people in St. Lucia, in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
.