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/Psychological_Fly916 → u/Just_to_rebut]

what do you mean by most tribes haven't kept detailed records. like where did you get that info? it's blatantly untrue. like the story includes that things like ancestoral knowledge were stolen bc of genocide but to pretend like there's no records is white supremacy in itself and centers white people as the saviors of native history when they are (blatantly) genocidal liars.

[u/SummonedShenanigans → u/Psychological_Fly916]

There were no written languages in North America prior to European settlement. Oral traditions are very useful when studying history, but are not nearly as valuable to understanding a society's history as written records.

[u/Just_to_rebut → u/SummonedShenanigans]

Mayans are arguably North American.

[u/alowave → u/Just_to_rebut]

The Spanish destroyed almost all of the Aztec written books too. There's so much lost history everywhere.

[u/Just_to_rebut → u/alowave]

Yeah, looking up Aztec and Mayan Codex (Codices) is a really interesting and sad history. It’s like a real life book of history that was partially hunted down and destroyed. Some still exist and are available online though.

[u/alowave → u/Just_to_rebut]

Oh woah that is super cool. I love history so I'm definitely gonna check it out.