Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian Project in the Field

195 Pages·2003·0.873 MB·English

by  Mick Gidley

Edward S. Curtis
and the North
American
Indian Project
in the Field

Edward S. Curtis
and the North
American
Indian Project
in the Field
Edited and with an
introduction by
Mick Gidley
universityofnebraskapress
lincolnandlondon
©2003byMickGidley LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Allrightsreserved EdwardS.CurtisandtheNorthAmericanIndianproject
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica inthefield/editedandwithanintroductionbyMick
Gidley.
(cid:1)(cid:1)
p. cm.
“EnteringApacheLands,”byHaroldP.Curtis,c.1948;an Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
excerptfrom“TravelingtheRouteofLewisand isbn0-8032-2193-2(cloth:alk.paper)
Clark—OneHundredYearsLater,”byEdwardS.Curtis, 1.Curtis,EdwardS.,1868–1952. 2.Curtis,EdwardS.,
n.d.;anexcerptofareminiscencebyEdwardS.Curtis;an 1868–1952.NorthAmericanIndian. 3.IndiansofNorth
excerptofamemoirbyFlorenceCurtisGraybill;an America—Portraits. 4.IndiansofNorth
excerptofBethCurtisMagnuson’sLogofHerAlaskan America—Pictorialworks. I.Gidley,M.(Mick)
Voyage,1927;anexcerptfrom“ARamblingLogofthe e77.5.e39 2003
FieldSeasonoftheSummerof1927,”byEdwardS.Curtis, 970.004'97—dc21
1927;andanexcerptfrom“IndianReligion,”alectureby 2002043037
EdwardS.Curtis,1911,arereprintedcourtesyofJames
Graybill.
Excerptsfrom“TheGodsForbid,”“AmongtheTewas,”
and“WiththeCheyennes”byW.W.Phillipsarereprinted
courtesyofthelateW.S.Phillips.
“ApacheReligiousBeliefs,”byEdwardS.Curtis,c.1911;
FieldNotesontheWillapasbyW.E.Myers,1910;andA
ReminiscenceofGeorgeHunt,byEdwardS.Curtis,c.
1930s,arereprintedcourtesyoftheSeaverCenterfor
WesternHistoryResearch,LosAngelesCountyMuseum
ofNaturalHistory.
TheHodgePaperslettersbyW.E.MyerstoFrederick
WebbHodge,1908;byEdwardS.CurtistoFrederick
WebbHodge,1909;andbyStewartC.Eastwoodto
FrederickWebbHodge,1927,arereprintedcourtesyofthe
SouthwestMuseum,LosAngelesca.
TheEdmondS.MeanyPaperslettersbyEdwinJ.Dalbyto
EdmondS.Meany,1908,andbyEdwinS.Curtisto
EdmondS.Meany,1922,arereprintedcourtesyofSpecial
Collections,UniversityArchives,Universityof
WashingtonLibraries.
Theexcerptfrom“AmongtheBlackfootIndiansof
Montana,”byA.C.Haddon,c.1914,isreprintedcourtesy
oftheSyndicsofCambridgeUniversityLibrary.
Unlessotherwiseindicated,allphotographsinthisbook
weremadebyEdwardS.Curtis;thereproductionscome
fromnegativesorprintsintheCurtiscopyrightfilesof
thePrintsandPhotographsDivisionoftheU.S.Library
ofCongress.Titlesareasgiveninthosefiles,thoughdates
areeitherthoseoftheyearinwhichitisknowntheywere
madeor,failingthat,theyeartheywerecopyrighted.The
numbergiveninthecaptionistheLibraryofCongress
(lc)lotnumberfollowedbytheCurtisnegativenumber
or,whereitexists,thelcnegativenumber(suchasusz62
followedbyanumber).Furtherinformationona
photograph’scontentsandrelevanceisgiveninits
caption.
InMemory
DorisFlorenceGidley&
BerniceandMyronGordon

Contents
ListofIllustrations viii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
ExplanatoryNotes xiii
1Introduction 1
2IntheSouthwest 30
3OnthePlains 57
4IntheNorthwest 82
5UpandDowntheWestCoast 108
6GenerallySpeaking 131
Notes 149
ReferencesCited 163
Index 171
Illustrations
followingpage84
1.Author’sCampamongtheSpokan
2.EdwardS.Curtis
3.CampCurtis
4.RedCloud,EdmondS.Meany,andothers
5.TheTalk
6.TheVillageHerald
7.TheOffering
8.HopiSnakePriest
9.ApacheStillLife
10.WomenatCampFire
11.SanIldefonsoTablitaDance
12.BearBlack
13.HunkaCeremony
14.TearingLodgeandhisWife
15.IndianMaiden
16.StormyDay
17.OnQuamichanLake
18.KominakaDancer
19.AChief—Chukchansi
20.EskimosatPloverBay
21.Kenowun
22.OntheRiver’sEdge
23.ASwap
24.ModernChemehueviHome
25.OneBlueBead
Preface
The book The North American Indian (1907–1930),credited to Edward S. Curtis,
is becoming ever better known. In recent years, for example, almost all of its
photographicimageshavebeenreproducedinone(admittedlyverythick)paper-
boundvolume,andAnneMakepeace’sdocumentaryfilmComingtoLight(2000),
whichcelebratesCurtis’sachievements,hasbeenwidelyscreened.Inaddition,the
photogravuresfromTheNorthAmericanIndianhavebeenmadefreelyavailablein
digitizedformontheWorldWideWeb,andthereareplanstodothesamewith
theextensivewrittenmaterialtobefoundintheoriginalvolumes(hithertoonly
accessibleeitherinareprinteditionthatisnolongeravailableorinanabbreviated
formbetweenthecoversofanthologies,suchasmyownTheVanishingRace[1976]).
Thepresentbookisanefforttomakeavailablematerialsthatarenotyetinthepublic
domain.Publicationshaveappearedthatpurporttobecollectionsofunpublished
data.ThemostsignificantisPrayertotheGreatMystery:TheUncollectedWritings
and Photography of Edward S. Curtis (1995),edited by Gerald Hausman and Bob
Kapoun,abookthatdoesindeedincludeamongitsillustrationsmanypreviously
unpublishedphotographs.Allof theverbaltextinHausmanandKapoun’sbook,
however,istakenfromthepublishedvolumesofTheNorthAmericanIndian.1By
contrast,theemphasisofEdwardS.CurtisandtheNorthAmericanIndianProjectin
theFieldisonwrittendocuments,mostofwhichhaveneverbeenpublished—or,if
theyhadbeenpreviouslypublishedtheylanguisheduncollectedinjournalsandthe
likeforsomeninetyyears.(Igiveinformationinheadnotesandendnotesonthe
fewcaseswheretheyhavebeenreprinted—usuallyonlyinpart—morerecently.)In
addition,almostalltheimagesinthepresentbookwerenotreproducedorexhibited
during Curtis’s lifetime and have not been published since. The introduction
explainstherationaleofmyselections.Ihopeyouwillenjoyreadingtheencounters
presentedhere.
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