Excavating Voices: Photographs of Native Americans | New Publication from

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Learning from the Elders
by Robert W. Preucel

"When photography was invented in 1839, it dramatically transformed the popular understanding of the world. The photographic image reproduced 'Reality-as-it-was'... But this clarity was, of course, false clarity, and the photographic representations were, at best, only partial or half truths. The early photographers who experimented with this new medium were quick to appreciate this new power of representation and found ready employment in manufacturing images of Native Americans as exotic and foreign, as peoples against whom society could measure its progress and sophistication."

"In 1879 Captain Richard Pratt established an Indian School at the site of an unused military barracks at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. His philosophy was deceptively simple: to transform Indian children into American citizens through education.... Pratt, an ex-superintendent of the prison at Fort Marion, Florida, ran his school along strict military lines....These 'before and after' photographs [by John Nicholas Choate, the official photographer of the school] were used by Pratt as a propaganda tool, a visual testimony of the success of the school and the superiority of civilization."

Tom Torlino, Navajo, on entry to Carlisle School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
J. N. Choate, before 1882
Tom Torlino, Navajo, three years later, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
J. N. Choate, after 1885

"The new media of photography created new political and economic opportunities for the 'speaking for others.' The duality of photographic realism allowed professional photographers to make statements which had little basis in the social existence of native peoples.... " Compare these two photos of Red Cloud, one a studio portrait, the other an official group photo of the Oglala Delegation to Washington, DC.

Red Cloud
C.M. Bell, 1880
Here Bell is playing upon the notion of 'Indianness,' controling the image of Red Cloud to read not as 'civilized,' but as 'savage.' But these items of clothing do not belong to Red Cloud; they were borrowed from Little Wound, another member of the delegation, who was wearing them in the official group photo [right].

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Oglala Delegation
C.M. Bell, 1880
[l to r]:
Red Dog, Little Wound, Red Cloud, American Horse, Red Shirt, John Bridgeman (standing)
Red Cloud is dressed in a western suit, worn out of respect for Ulysses S. Grant, the President of the United States. But because these clothes could be misread as evidence of passivity and the acceptance of civilization, Bell has chosen to pose Red Cloud in the sitting portrait [at left] in a beaded war shirt and breastplate.

"The history of Native American-White relationships has been largely defined and controlled through manufactured images, and these images, not surprisingly, have served our purposes in the construction of our National identity. If we listen critically to the voices of Manifest Destiny and progress, we can begin to identify some of the contradictions between our professed democratic ideals of equal representation and our political actions which have systematically denied a voice to Native Americans. We can learn why we have constructed Native Americans as Noble Savages and as a Vanishing Race. And with this new knowledge, we can begin to appreciate why we must stop speaking for native peoples and start listening to them about their needs and desires for their lives and the lives of their children."
Intro | Illusion of the Image Michael Katakis | Fugitive Poses Gerald Vizenor
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