Portraits of Native Americans from the Early 1900s
The Edward S. Curtis Collection offers a unique glimpse into Curtis’s work with indigenous cultures. The more than 2,400 silver-gelatin photographic prints were acquired by the Library of Congress through copyright deposit from about 1900 through 1930. About two-thirds (1,608) of these images were not published in Curtis’s multi-volume work, The North American Indian. The collection includes a large number of individual or group portraits, as well as traditional and ceremonial dress, dwellings and other structures, agriculture, arts and crafts, rites and ceremonies, dances, games, food preparation, transportation, and scenery.
Below is a small collection of portraits from this fascinating collection. To see the entire series, be sure to visit the Library of Congress site with the entire 1,069-photo collection available for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!
1. White Shield – Arikara – c1908
2. Si Wa Wata Wa – Zuni – c1903
3. White deerskin dance costume – Hupa – c1923
4. Yellow Kidney – Piegan – c1910
5. Many Goat’s son – Navajo – c1904
6. Weasel Tail – Piegan – c1900
7. An Acoma woman – Acoma – c1905
8. Running Rabbit – c1900
9. Nez Percé Man – Nez Percé – c1910
10. Head Carry – c1900
11. Lucille – Dakota – c1907
12. A Tluwulahu mask – Tsawatenok – c1914
13. Two Whistles – Apsaroke – c1908
14. Wishham bride – Tlakluit – c1910
15. Tah It Way – c1905
16. Iron Breast – Piegan – c1900
17. Bull Chief – Apsaroke – c1908
18. Wishham young woman – Tlakluit – c1910
19. Pah Toi – Taos – c1905
20. We-Ton – c1900
21. Ben Long Ear – c1905
22. Maskette – Nunivak – c1929
23. Young Hairy Wolf – Apsaroke – c1905
24. Wisham girl – c1910
25. Black Hair – c1905
26. One Blue Bead – Crow – c1908
27. Three Horses – c1905
28. Lies Sideway – Crow – c1908
29. Mosa – Mohave – c1903
30. Chief Joesph – Nez Percé – c1903
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