Portrait of a Native American Student

Portrait of Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck commissioned by the Harvard Foundation in 2010.

Portrait of Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck commissioned by the Harvard Foundation.  Image of the portrait provided by the artist, Stephen Coit '71.  All rights reserved. 

2009 Harvard Yard Archaeology

Immortalized in Pulitzer-Prizer winner Geraldine Brook's historical novel Caleb's Crossing, Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck was the first Native American graduate of Harvard College, Class of 1665. This conjectural portrait was painted long after his death by another Harvard graduate. No images of Cheeshahteaumuck persist; his true features remain unknown.

Note the bag in the upper left; artist Coit modeled it after a Peabody Museum bag attributed by label to Cheeshahteaumuck.

Small bag. PM 90-17-50/49302. Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology.

Small bag. PM 90-17-50/49302. Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology.

PreviousHomeNext