MEDIA 175 - Week 3 (Part 2 of 2): History Project:
EDWIN SHERIFF CURTIS
"The information that is to be gathered ... respecting the mode of life of one of the great races of mankind, must be collected at once or the opportunity will be lost."
- Edwin Sheriff Curtis
- Edwin Sheriff Curtis
Preserving History
Throughout the 1800s the US government campaigned to remove Native American Nations from their local territories within US borders and concentrate them onto alternate regions of land. Force was often used. Commonly known events in this chapter of US history are the Indian Removal Act of 1830 which launched the Trail of Tears against the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Creek and Cherokee Nations with the immediate intention to expand crops in the South; the failed 7th Cavalry charge at Little Bighorn in 1876 against the Sioux and Cheyanne Nations; and the shrinking of the Nez Perce reservation in 1863 to make room for gold rush settlers in Northeastern Oregon, of which Chief Joseph made his declaration " ... I shall fight no more forever". With these and other events of the century, the ethnicity, cultures, traditions, and languages of Native American Nations were disappearing.
Throughout the 1800s the US government campaigned to remove Native American Nations from their local territories within US borders and concentrate them onto alternate regions of land. Force was often used. Commonly known events in this chapter of US history are the Indian Removal Act of 1830 which launched the Trail of Tears against the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Creek and Cherokee Nations with the immediate intention to expand crops in the South; the failed 7th Cavalry charge at Little Bighorn in 1876 against the Sioux and Cheyanne Nations; and the shrinking of the Nez Perce reservation in 1863 to make room for gold rush settlers in Northeastern Oregon, of which Chief Joseph made his declaration " ... I shall fight no more forever". With these and other events of the century, the ethnicity, cultures, traditions, and languages of Native American Nations were disappearing.
Disturbed by this endangerments, Edwin Sheriff Curtis dedicated his life’s work to documenting 80 tribes throughout the country though photographs before the “opportunity [was] lost”. In so doing, Curtis immersed himself in each society by learning their languages, histories, and customs. Even outside of his photo journalistic achievements, his cultural immersion is an incredible feat. The result was a 20 volume photographic documentation known as The North American Indian, including 2,228 illustrations. The commission of this project lasted 24 years, from receiving the initial funding from J.P. Morgan in 1906 to the final publication in 1930.
Kikisoblu, otherwise known as Princess Angeline, was the Daughter of Chief Seattle. The image of her was taken by Curtis in 1895 prior to his commission with J.P. Morgan. It is credited as the first photograph of a Native American.
A Snapshot of Edwin Sheriff Curtis
Curtis was born in 1868 in Whitewater, WI. He constructed is first camera and received a photographer’s apprenticeship in St. Paul at the age of seventeen. In 1887 the family moved to Seattle, WA where Curtis opened a photography shop with Rasmus Rothi, of which he broke free in order to start another photography business through a more agreeable partnership with Thomas Guptill. In 1897 he bought the company outright and married Clara Phillips with whom he had three daughters: Florence, Katherine, and Beth.
In 1898 he randomly met George Bird Grinnel while climbing Mt. Rainier. Grinnel was editor of Field and Stream magazine and invited Curtis on the Harriman Expedition to Alaska. Curtis gladly accepted.
While on the journey to Alaska, Curtis became friends with naturalist John Muir and writer John Burroughs. Meanwhile, Grinnell shared his expertise about the situation of the vanishing Plains Indians, which initiated the life mission of Curtis.
Although Curtis had a successful career, his personal life was littered with misfortune. Funding for his project became a challenge after his original sponsor, J.P. Morgan, died in 1913. His wife filed for divorce in 1916. In 1917, the US entered World War I, which paused The North American Indian project until 1922. The greatest cost to Curtis was also a national detriment: when the divorce was finalized in 1919, Clara won the photo studio in Seattle and the negatives to Edwin’s work. Refusing his work to become the ownership of his ex-wife, Curtis destroyed the negatives. Most of Curtis’ remaining negatives are post 1919. Any prior to this year are few. In addition to the cultural purity of Curtis’ work, the rarity of negatives significantly increases their value both in historical and monetary terms.
Curtis died of a heart attack in 1952. After much personal misfortune in effort to give the world a gift of cultural heritage, the epitaph on his grave pays tribute to the greatest significance of his personal life: “Edward S. Curtis. Beloved Father.”
Curtis was born in 1868 in Whitewater, WI. He constructed is first camera and received a photographer’s apprenticeship in St. Paul at the age of seventeen. In 1887 the family moved to Seattle, WA where Curtis opened a photography shop with Rasmus Rothi, of which he broke free in order to start another photography business through a more agreeable partnership with Thomas Guptill. In 1897 he bought the company outright and married Clara Phillips with whom he had three daughters: Florence, Katherine, and Beth.
In 1898 he randomly met George Bird Grinnel while climbing Mt. Rainier. Grinnel was editor of Field and Stream magazine and invited Curtis on the Harriman Expedition to Alaska. Curtis gladly accepted.
While on the journey to Alaska, Curtis became friends with naturalist John Muir and writer John Burroughs. Meanwhile, Grinnell shared his expertise about the situation of the vanishing Plains Indians, which initiated the life mission of Curtis.
Although Curtis had a successful career, his personal life was littered with misfortune. Funding for his project became a challenge after his original sponsor, J.P. Morgan, died in 1913. His wife filed for divorce in 1916. In 1917, the US entered World War I, which paused The North American Indian project until 1922. The greatest cost to Curtis was also a national detriment: when the divorce was finalized in 1919, Clara won the photo studio in Seattle and the negatives to Edwin’s work. Refusing his work to become the ownership of his ex-wife, Curtis destroyed the negatives. Most of Curtis’ remaining negatives are post 1919. Any prior to this year are few. In addition to the cultural purity of Curtis’ work, the rarity of negatives significantly increases their value both in historical and monetary terms.
Curtis died of a heart attack in 1952. After much personal misfortune in effort to give the world a gift of cultural heritage, the epitaph on his grave pays tribute to the greatest significance of his personal life: “Edward S. Curtis. Beloved Father.”
" ... these photographs were a joint creation. The
Indians were the willing participants in creating an image. Here were people
who were living under extraordinarily difficult circumstances, yet were able to
retain a profound sense of human dignity. Curtis was able to capture that
dignity.”
- Clark Worswick, curator of photography for the Peabody Essex Museum
- Clark Worswick, curator of photography for the Peabody Essex Museum
Volumes of The North American Indian
Vol. 1 - 1907 - The Apache. The Jicarillas. The Navaho.
Vol. 2 - 1908 - The Pima. The Papago. The Qahatika. The Mohave. The Yuma. The Maricopa. The Walapai. The Havasupai. The Apache-Mohave, or Yavapai.
Vol. 3 - 1908 - The Teton Sioux. The Yanktonai. The Assiniboin.
Vol. 4 - 1909 - The Apsaroke, or Crows. The Hidatsa.
Vol. 5 - 1909 - The Mandan. The Arikara. The Atsina.
Vol. 6 - 1911 - The Piegan. The Cheyenne. The Arapaho.
Vol. 7 - 1911 - The Yakima. The Klickitat. Salishan tribes of the interior. The Kutenai.
Vol. 8 - 1911 - The Nez Perces. Wallawalla. Umatilla. Cayuse. The Chinookan tribes.
Vol. 9 - 1913 - The Salishan tribes of the coast. The Chimakum and the Quilliute. The Willapa.
Vol. 10 - 1915 - The Kwakiutl.
Vol. 11 - 1916 - The Nootka. The Haida.
Vol. 12 - 1922 - The Hopi.
Vol. 13 - 1924 - The Hupa. The Yurok. The Karok. The Wiyot. Tolowa and Tututni. The Shasta. The Achomawi. The Klamath.
Vol. 14 - 1924 The Kato. The Wailaki. The Yuki. The Pomo. The Wintun. The Maidu. The Miwok. The Yokuts.
Vol. 15 - 1926 - Southern California Shoshoneans. The Diegueños. Plateau Shoshoneans. The Washo.
Vol. 16 - 1926 - The Tiwa. The Keres.
Vol. 17 - 1926 - The Tewa. The Zuñi.
Vol. 18 - 1928 - The Chipewyan. The Western woods Cree. The Sarsi.
Vol. 19 - 1930 - The Indians of Oklahoma. The Wichita. The southern Cheyenne. The Oto. The Comanche. The Peyote cult.
Vol. 20 - 1930 - The Alaskan Eskimo. The Nunivak. The Eskimo of Hooper Bay. The Eskimo of King Island. The Eskimo of Little Diomede Island. The Eskimo of Cape Prince of Wales. The Kotzebue Eskimo. The Noatak. The Kobuk. The Selawik.
References
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/ienhtml/about.html
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/custer.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/trail-of-tears
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/chiefjoseph.htm
http://prafulla.net/graphics/photography/north-american-indian-photographs/
http://www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/201107/edward_curtis-2.phtml
http://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/photography/articles/73605.aspx
http://southsiders-mc.blogspot.com/2010/01/edward-s-curtis.html
http://www.pem.org/exhibitions/55-the_master_prints_of_edward_s_curtis_portraits_of_native_america
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/ienhtml/about.html
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/custer.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/trail-of-tears
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/chiefjoseph.htm
http://prafulla.net/graphics/photography/north-american-indian-photographs/
http://www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/201107/edward_curtis-2.phtml
http://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/photography/articles/73605.aspx
http://southsiders-mc.blogspot.com/2010/01/edward-s-curtis.html
http://www.pem.org/exhibitions/55-the_master_prints_of_edward_s_curtis_portraits_of_native_america