{"id":51130,"date":"2024-07-01T20:24:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T00:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mmm.electricpulp.com\/?p=51130"},"modified":"2024-07-02T18:59:05","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T22:59:05","slug":"edward-curtis-native-american-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mymodernmet.com\/edward-curtis-native-american-portraits\/","title":{"rendered":"Early 20th-Century Portraits Preserve the Heritage of Native Americans"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"White

White Shield – Arikara, 1908 (Photo: Edward S. Curtis via Library of Congress<\/a>, Public domain)
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In what he perceived as a race against time, due to the American expansion and the intervention of the federal government, photographer and ethnologist Edward S. Curtis<\/strong> spent more than 30 years documenting Native Americans and their traditions.<\/p>\n

Curtis referred to Native Americans as a “vanishing race,” and as such, wanted to document the customs and traditions of a wide variety of Native American tribes. To do so, he would need to secure wealthy patrons, allowing him to travel to different Indian territories, including a wide exploration of the American West.<\/p>\n

In 1906, with the sponsorship of J.P. Morgan, Curtis undertook the production of what was set to be a series of 20 volumes with 1,500 photographs of Native Americans. Initially, five years was designated for the project, but its ambitious scale pushed Curtis well beyond the deadline. Under the original terms of the sponsorship, Morgan paid out $75,000 over five years in exchange for 25 volumes and 500 original prints. This was enough for Curtis to purchase his initial equipment to make the arduous voyages to each tribe, but money quickly grew scarce.<\/p>\n

Curtis was on the move for more than three decades, living among dozens of tribes. During this time, he photographed well-known Native Americans, such as Geronimo, Red Cloud, Medicine Crow, and Chief Joseph. Interested in more than just photography, Curtis wished to capture a full view of Native American culture. While visiting more than 80 tribes, he created 10,000 wax cylinder recordings of Native American language and music, certainly an important component for preserving the tribes' legacy.<\/p>\n

\"Cheyenne