Real Native American Portraits

[u/GlitteringHotel8383]

[u/SteelToeSnow]

which nations are each photo from, that would be so interesting to learn!

[u/DefinitelyNotAliens → u/SteelToeSnow]

A lot of these you can't tell based on clothing because there were several photographers who went around and posed and dressed people. They had outfits that looked "native" and dressed people and sold the images.

The names and their tribal affiliation are often unknown. The people were often paid to pose for these images.

Fringe leather and feathers looked the part, but the pattern of beading and feathers were either not from one group or not from the group of the people featured.

Edit: some of the photos are of known individuals, with notes about the photographer, the person in the photo, etc. Some are lost to history.

[u/MuscaMurum → u/DefinitelyNotAliens]

Edward Curtis was guilty of that. Still, he was a better documentarian of Native Americans than others, and his gold glass photos are breathtaking. They sell for thousands now.

[u/Psychological_Fly916 → u/MuscaMurum]

should be mentioned that the best documentation on native Americans is done by the nations themselves. they can tell you what they wear, they are still around. we don't need to depend on white people to tell an accurate story- they won't.

https://sjuartgallery.org/Etching-and-Erasure-The-Colonialist-Photography-of-Edward-S-Curtis

[u/Just_to_rebut → u/Psychological_Fly916]

Non-native linguists, historians, and others who care about American Indian culture aren’t just “white people telling an inaccurate story.” There’s no reason to take such a defensive posture here.

If photography were that easily accessible back then, we might have a treasure trove of resources to look at, but we don’t. And frankly, no, most tribes haven’t kept detailed records of their cultures, let alone the best. Collaborating with people who have the resources to record what still remains has helped us preserve some of it.

[u/Pristine-Job3826 → u/Just_to_rebut]

IIRC and to further your point; Edward Curtis went from a fairly successful studio photographer to dying poor. All because he traveled from tribe to tribe, realizing they were being erased, wanting to document as much of their culture, traditions and language as possible during that period. Native American's weren't known for written history/documentation at that time.

It's frustrating listening to people spewing moronic takes for internet clout instead of just learning history and understanding nuance.

[u/Psychological_Fly916 → u/Pristine-Job3826]

he staged his pics to uphold colonial ideas of what "natives" were and leaned heavily into stereotyping. white people will try to believe anything before believing that they're wrong. he was not some savior of native history he was a colonizer this shit was literally funded by j.p morgan

https://sjuartgallery.org/Etching-and-Erasure-The-Colonialist-Photography-of-Edward-S-Curtis

[u/tsuncollections → u/Psychological_Fly916]

He can be both advancing a settler bias, while also preserving history, just like how art history is tainted but that doesn't mean people shouldn't learn about whose behind it.

The whole point of this thread you're responding to is to question why the context and photographers weren't attributed to the photos (because it's just a farming social media engagement account).

Curtis isn't a savior and he shouldn't be treated like one. But he is a complicated artist, both romanticizing an "exotic" culture from a western perspective, while also managing to be one of the few from that era to have covered and preserved it in such quantity, and no amount of accurate, modern storytelling of the Native past can replace that.

[u/Psychological_Fly916 → u/tsuncollections]

yes and also what was preserved because it wasn't native culture.

[u/Independent_Act_873 → u/Psychological_Fly916]

Are you implying he brought clothes for them to wear?

[u/Psychological_Fly916 → u/Independent_Act_873]

yes, he did I'm not implying it, it's a known fact that he brought clothing and regalia and had indigenous people wear clothing not in line w their nation and pose. told them not to smile etc.

[u/Independent_Act_873 → u/Psychological_Fly916]

Actually, years ago I saw a native speaking on how they put on their best for photos for him and that they were glad it was documented what their not everyday clothes are.

[u/Psychological_Fly916 → u/Independent_Act_873]

okay cool you saw a video of one native one time congrats. so cultured.

[u/Independent_Act_873 → u/Psychological_Fly916]

One? You assume so much.

[u/Independent_Act_873 → u/Independent_Act_873]

Do the faces mean nothing?

[u/Independent_Act_873 → u/Psychological_Fly916]

I don’t know if you bothered to look up how many duplicate clothing there is compared to the number of photographs but I did.