#edward s curtis
“What treaty have the Sioux made with the white man that we have broken? Not one. What treaty have the white man ever made with us that they have kept? Not one.” – Sitting Bull
(photo: edward s. curtis)
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Theodore Roosevelt, a contemporary of Curtis’s and one of his most fervent supporters, wrote the following comments in the foreword to Volume 1 of The North American Indian: “In Mr. Curtis we have both an artist and a trained observer, whose work has far more than mere accuracy, because it is truthful…”
Curtis has been praised as a gifted photographer but also criticized by some contemporary ethnologists for manipulating his images… Curtis removed parasols, suspenders, wagons, and other traces of Westernmaterial culture from many of his images… He also is known to have paid natives to pose in staged scenes, wear historically inaccurate dress and costumes, dance and partake in simulated ceremonies… Curtis paid natives to pose as warriors at a time when they lived with little dignity and few rights and freedoms. It has been suggested that he altered and manipulated his pictures to create an ethnographic simulation of native tribes untouched by Western society.
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Indigenous First People of the Americas Mask Art
Two Wolves – A Cherokee Parable“ An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life…
‘A fight is going on inside me,’ he said to the boy.
‘It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed,
arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies,
false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.
The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope,
serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy,
generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
This same fight is going on inside you
and inside every other person, too.’
The grandson thought about it for a minute
and then asked his grandfather,
‘Which wolf will win?’
The old chief simply replied,
‘The one you feed.”We all wear masks since the begining of time . Today’s masks consist of ‘Brands and snap chat filters
Edward S. Curtis often asked natives to recreate their ceremonies wearing traditional garb so he could capture them on camera.
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