Against a backdrop of dehumanising government policies in the United States that actively promoted forced removal, land-loss (the Dawes Act 1887), division of families and assimilation into white society with the aim of the erasure of Native cultures, Elizabeth Lochrie painted pictures of Native Americans that captured not only their ethnicity and culture, but their spirit and humanity. E. Lochrie studied Blackfoot dialects and immersed herself in their culture, so much so that, in 1932, the Blackfoot Nation adopted her and gave her the name Netchitaki, meaning “Woman Alone in Her Ways”.

Born in Deer Lodge, Montana in 1890, E. Lochrie attended Pratt University for two years, graduating in 1911. She married in 1915 and devoted the next decade and a half to her family. In 1931, when the children were older, she attended a few classes under fresco painters, which would serve as a training ground for the public artworks she would eventually complete.

As part of US governmental programmes to alleviate financial hardship during the 1930s Great Depression, E. Lochrie was commissioned by Works Progress Administration (WPA) to create several federal murals, including The Fur Traders (1939), which is still extant and viewable above the postmaster’s office at the Saint Anthony, Idaho post office to this day. E. Lochrie’s depiction represents the 1810 establishment of a fur trading post as well as the first meeting of Europeans and Native peoples at a site near the current post office. In E. Lochrie’s depiction, it is clear that not only are goods being exchanged, but culture as well. As she often created quilts for her Native friends, the checkerboard-patterned quilt at the top of the pile of blankets is thought to represent E. Lochrie herself. The oil on paperboard study for this mural is in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The 16th century Dutch Baroque master Rembrandt (1606–1669) had a penchant for painting older people, as he found the patina of life writ large on their dignified, aged faces. So too did E. Lochrie excel at portraying the elders of the Blackfoot tribe. The Holter Museum of Art’s collection includes a more casual portrait of Chief Washakie (undated). Without the Chief’s regalia, the viewer focuses in on the soft, wise eyes and a broad, well-modelled face full of character. Mrs. Maggie Morning Gun (undated) features another tribe elder, whose fine, smooth beaded jewellery further accentuates the fascinating weathering of her facial features.

E. Lochrie was an exemplary advocate on behalf of those she painted. She became a lecturer on Indian culture, delivering at least thirty lectures a year to various groups across the USA, and would frequently donate her lecture fees to the Blackfoot Nation or accepted payment through in-kind supplies and contributions that would be useful to the tribes. During a time of profound existential threats to the Native peoples of Montana, E. Lochrie used her talents to platform the Blackfoot people who were her sitters and friends. Her depictions of Native peoples remain some of the most nuanced, sensitive and realistic to this day.