1904-1924 'The North American Indian' One man's vision of a continent of cultures

[polly7]

by Alex Q. Arbuckle

Born on a Wisconsin farm in 1868, Edward Sheriff Curtis grew up to become a commercial photographer in Seattle. In 1895 he photographed Princess Angeline, the daughter of the Duwamish chief Seattle, for whom the city was named.

That encounter sparked Curtis' lifelong fascination with the cultures and lives of Native American tribes. He soon joined expeditions to visit tribes in Alaska and Montana.

In 1906, Curtis was approached by wealthy financier J.P. Morgan, who was interested in funding a documentary project on the indigenous people of the continent. They conceived a 20-volume series, called The North American Indian.

With Morgan’s backing, Curtis spent more than 20 years crisscrossing North America, creating over 40,000 images of more than 80 different tribes. He made thousands of wax cylinder recordings of native songs and language, and wrote down oral histories, legends and biographies.

c. 1910
A Jicarrilla girl.


1914
Kwakiutl people in canoes in British Columbia.


c. 1910
An Apache woman reaps grain.

The passing of every old man or woman means the passing of some tradition, some knowledge of sacred rites possessed by no other...Consequently the information that is to be gathered, for the benefit of future generations, respecting the mode of life of one of the great races of mankind, must be collected at once or the opportunity will be lost for all time.
EDWARD S. CURTIS

http://mashable.com/2015/11/25/edward-curtis-native-americans/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link#689xfJAoakqa
Gorgeous photos.

[niyad]

1. thank you.

[polly7]

2. You're very welcome, niyad. nt.

[xocet]

3. Fascinating.... Thanks for posting this. n/t

[haikugal]

4. Thank you Polly7.

We have lost so much knowledge...

What a beautiful little girl! I look forward to looking at the link a bit later.

K&R!

[Judi Lynn]

5. Edward Sheriff Curtis is the man who portrayed these precious people for the future.

Once you've seen his photographs you feel obligated to see as many of them as you can, and buy them for your home.

He is absolutely irreplaceable.

Saw so many at your link I hadn't seen, and some which are famous. Each one is a treasure.

It was truly kind of these people to allow this man to take their pictures.

What a dark, desperate story of what happened to the original people who were here already, who had every right to look forward to long, healthy lives, had the newcomers known how to conduct themselves, or even bothered to try.

Had to save this link for future reference.

What a fantastic link to share, Polly. The timing makes it even more poignant.

Thank you.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Here's a photo of the famous photographer:

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Edward Sheriff Curtis






















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[polly7]

7. Thank you, Judi Lynn for more background on him and his photo.

As well as all the others, they're absolutely gorgeous.