Tag: photographs

The Photography of Richard Throssel (DGM Module 3-3)

http://www.lib.virginia.edu/etd/masters/ArtsSci/English/2002/Daniels/curtis/throssel/professional.html

Whereas Edward Curtis was a White man photographing Indians, Richard Throssel was a Crow Indian, hired by the Indian Service (of the US Gov’t) from 1909 to 1911 to depict everyday life on the Crow Reserve. While Throssel’s photographs are also coloured by the late-Romantic notion of the “noble Indian”, his insider’s perspective led to many photographs that depict a somewhat truer reality: Indians who weren’t living in an idealized past, but as contemporary to the rest of America at the beginning of the twentieth century.

On the page linked above, Valerie Daniels has posted a representative selection of photographs from Throssel’s employment by the Indian Service and his later private venture, Throssel Photocraft Co., along with a brief biography. A number of these photos, such as Showing the Better Class of Indian Home (1910) and Interior of the Best Kitchen on the Crow Reservation (1910) had been produced for use in educational pamphlets on “Indian Health”.

Edward S. Curtis Gallery (DGM Module 3-2)

http://www.edwardscurtis.com/

I came across the name Edward Sheriff Curtis while reading Thomas King’s 2003 Massey Lectures, The Truth About Stories. Curtis travelled throughout North America in the early twentieth century, photographing “Indians”. According to King, Curtis took over 40,000 photos, of which over 20,000 were published. The gallery linked above shows thumbnails of a small portion of these photos, along with links to Curtis’ biography and some of his writings.

What is particularly interesting about these photos, again according to King, is the way Curtis constructed an image of the “Indian”, carrying “Indian” clothing, wigs and and other cultural paraphernalia to lend to those who didn’t look quite Indian enough to match the late-Romantic image of the noble Indian, even paying some to shave off western-looking facial hair.

Module 4 weblog 5 (Chantal Drolet)

iPortal: Indigenous studies portal research tool

The Indigenous Studies Portal (iPortal) connects faculty, students, researchers and members of the community with electronic resources: books, articles, theses, documents, photographs, archival resources, maps, etc.

It is an initiative of the University of Saskatchewan Library.

Resources available:

  • The iPortal has more than 17,000 records.
  • This includes:
    • photos,
    • anthropological field notes,
    • diaries,
    • correspondence and
    • other textual documents

Links to other sites:

A great number of links to:

  • arts
  • business
  • community
  • first nations; tribes; reserves
  • government
  • health
  • history
  • indigenous knowledge
  • land claims
  • and more…

Usefulness for research on Indigenous knowledge, media, and community reality:

The indigenous Studies Portal provides one place to look to find resources for Indigenous studies.

In the section “Media and communication” alone (http://iportal.usask.ca/index.php?sid=992445708&t=sub_pages&cat=13), you can find film critiques (films about aboriginals or made by natives themselves). You will also find excellent articles on images and stereotypes; as well as radio, audio and television information. There are references to websites; book reviews; theses, etc.

This site seems to be very reliable.

Address:

http://iportal.usask.ca/index.php?sid=992445708&t=sub_pages&cat=565

Spam prevention powered by Akismet