Among Unknown Tribes: Rediscovering the Photographs of Explorer Carl Lumholtz

329 Pages·2014·26.86 MB·English

by  Ann Christine Eek

A M O N G U N K N O W N T R I B E S
bill and alice wright photography series
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A m o n g
U N K N O W N
T R I B E S
R e d i s c o v e r i n g t h e P h o t o g r a p h s o f
E X P L O R E R
Carl Lumholtz
6
bill broyles
ann christine eek
phyllis la farge
richard laugharn
eugenia macías guzmán
university of texas press
austin
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Among Unknown Tribes was published in cooperation with the
Southwest Center, University of Arizona, Tucson; American Museum
of Natural History, New York; and Museum of Cultural History,
University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Publication of this work was made possible in part by support from
Bill and Alice Wright and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Copyright © 2014 by the University of Texas Press
All rights reserved
Printed in China
First edition, 2014
Requests for permission to reproduce material
from this work should be sent to:
Permissions
University of Texas Press
P.O. Box 7819
Austin, TX 78713-7819
http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/rp-form
The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements
of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper).
Design by Lindsay Starr
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Among unknown tribes : rediscovering the photographs of explorer Carl Lumholtz / by Bill
Broyles, Ann Christine Eek, Phyllis La Farge, Richard Laugharn, and Eugenia Macías Guzmán.
pages cm — (Bill and Alice Wright photography series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-292-75463-8 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Lumholtz, Carl, 1851–1922. 2. Photography in ethnology. 3. Ethnology—Pictorial works.
4. Ethnologists—Germany—Biography. 5. Naturalists—Germany—Biography. 6. Explorers—
Germany—Biography. I. Broyles, Bill, July 9, 1944–, editor of compilation. II. Eek, Ann Christine,
1948–, editor of compilation. III. La Farge, Phyllis, editor of compilation. IV. Laugharn, Richard,
1959–, editor of compilation. V. Macías Guzmán, Eugenia, editor of compilation. VI. Lumholtz,
Carl, 1851–1922, photographer.
gn21.l797a66 2014
305.80022'2—dc23 2013019657
doi:10.7560/754638
frontispiece: Carl Lumholtz, probably December 1905. (Photograph by Inger Barth,
Hamar, Norway. Museum of Cultural History no. uemf09970_53_cl.)
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Dedicated to Bernard L. “Bunny” Fontana
Scholar, guide, and friend
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The charm of the wilds had seized me again. No mode of
life is equal to that of camping out, if one knows how, and
no life is so engaging as that spent in the hope of adding to
human knowledge.
carl lumholtz
New Trails in Mexico (1912)
In the summer I made tours, always alone, up to the moun-
tains in the central part of Norway, and how wonderful it
seemed to be in touch with nature again! Never shall I for-
get how beautiful some clumps of small mountain willows
looked one early morning as I passed through them in the
enchanting summer light of the northern countries. After
a rainy night, newly formed pools reflected the brilliant
sunlight in which the leaves of the willows fairly seemed to
sparkle. There was enrapturing freshness in the landscape,
which was high above the usual abode of man. The beau-
ty of nature took hold of me and I felt my freedom from
the confinements of metaphysics and scholasticism. I was
overcome by emotion and wept from joy. . . . Love of na-
ture took stronger and stronger hold of me and one day it
occurred to me what a misfortune it would be to die with-
out having seen the whole earth.
carl lumholtz
“My Life of Exploration” (1921)
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Contents
1 introduction
bill broyles
9 timeline
Carl Sofus Lumholtz in Brief
11 chapter 1
Carl Lumholtz and His Photographs
ann christine eek
47 folio one
Photographs from Carl Lumholtz’s Unknown Mexico Expeditions
bill broyles, phyllis la farge, ann christine eek,
richard laugharn, and eugenia macías guzmán
171 chapter 2
Looking for Lumholtz
phyllis la farge
193 chapter 3
What Photographs Can Tell Us
Carl Lumholtz and Shaman Rubio
eugenia macías guzmán
202 folio two
Photographs from Carl Lumholtz’s New Trails in Mexico Expedition
bill broyles, phyllis la farge, richard laugharn,
and ann christine eek
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249 chapter 4
New Trails and Entwined Legacies
Carl Lumholtz’s Sonoran Desert Photographs
richard laugharn
263 chapter 5
A Man of Qualities
Lumholtz and the Museum
phyllis la farge
273 reflections
A Life Among Unknown Tribes
bill broyles, ann christine eek, phyllis la farge,
and richard laugharn
279 notes for the photographic plates
bill broyles, ann christine eek, phyllis la farge,
richard laugharn, and eugenia macías guzmán
297 acknowledgments
301 bibliography
307 contributors
309 index of plates
311 general index
viii among unknown tribes
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A M O N G U N K N O W N T R I B E S
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