Petalesharo was a Skidi Pawnee chief or brave who rescued an "Ietan" girl, that is Comanche girl, from a ritual human sacrifice around 1817 and earned publicity for his act in national newspapers. In 1821, he was one of numerous Great Plains tribal chiefs to go to Washington, D.C. as part of the O'Fallon Delegation where they met President James Monroe.
Petalesharro, a Pawnee Brave. 1822 painting by Charles Bird King. On display in the White House Library. His feather bonnet is likely the first ever painted by a white artist. To the cosmos focused Pawnees it symbolized a comet. He seems to wear a government medal on his breast.
The Pawnee are a Central Plains Indian tribe that historically lived in Nebraska and northern Kansas but today are based in Oklahoma. They are the federally recognized Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, who are headquartered in Pawnee, Oklahoma. Their Pawnee language belongs to the Caddoan language family, and their name for themselves is Chatiks si chatiks or "Men of Men".
Kitkahaki George and his son Taloowayahwho, also known as William Pollock, in the mid 1890s.
Pawnee lodges near Genoa, Nebraska (1873)
Pawnee Indians migrating, by Alfred Jacob Miller
Ornamental hair comb by Bruce Caesar (Pawnee-Sac and Fox), 1984, of German silver, Oklahoma History Center
