Copyright (C) 2006 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Document maintained by The Bancroft Library. Last update 12/08/06.
Good noting of copyright date and last update. I wonder if the digital exhibition was published in 2000 when exhibition was on display, or later?
Good credits page that lists who was involved in making of website and exhibition.
This is a nice way to look up individual images. Could be even better by adding a search function; or at least a shortcut to look by letter.
1590Theodor De Bry COLLECTION PEREGRINATIONUM IN INDIAM ORIENTALEM ET INDIAM OCCIDENTALEM, XXV PARTIBUS, COMPREHENSAE A THEODORE, JOAN. THEODORO DE BRY, ET A MATHEO MERIAN PUBLICATAE. SER. 1. HISTORIA AMERICAE SIVE NOVI ORBIS. CONTINENS IN XIII DISTINCTIS PARTIBUS...]. Francofurti ad Moenum: M. Merian, 1590. 1671Arnoldus Montanus DE NIEUWE EN OBEKENDE WEERELD: OF BESCHRYVING VAN AMERICA EN 'T ZUID-LAND, VERVAETENDE D'OORSPRONG DER AMERICAENEN EN ZUID-LANDERS, GEDENKWAERDIGE TOGTEN DERWAERDS, GELEGENDHEID DER VASTE KUSTEN, EILANDEN, STEDEN, STERKTEN, DORPEN, TEMPELS, BERGEN, FONTEINEN, STROOMEN, HUISEN, DE NATUUR VAN BEESTEN, BOOMEN, PLANTEN EN VREEMDE GEWASSCHEN, GODS-DIENST EN ZEDEN, WONDERLIJKE VOORVALLEN, VEREEUWDE EN NIEUWE OORLOOGEN: VERCIERT MET AF-BEELDSELS NA 'T LEVEN IN AMERICA GEMAEKT, EN BESCHREEVEN DOOR ARNOLDUS MONTANUS. t' Amsterdam, J. Meurs, 1671. 1781Jonathan Carver TRAVELS THROUGH THE INTERIOR PARTS OF NORTH AMERICA, IN THE YEARS 1766, 1767, AND 1768. London, C. Dilly, H. Payne, J. Phillips, 1781. 1822Louis Choris VOYAGE PITTORESQUE AUTOUR DU MONDE, AVEC DES PORTRAITS DE SAUVAGES D'AMERIQUE, D'ASIE, D'AFRIQUE, ET DES ILES DU GRAND OCEAN; DES PAYSAGES, DES VUES MARITIMES, ET PLUSIEURS OBJETS D'HISTOIRE NATURELLE. Paris: Impr. de Firmin Didot, 1822. 1836James Otto Lewis THE ABORIGINAL PORTFOLIO, OR, A COLLECTION OF PORTRAITS OF THE MOST CELEBRATED INDIAN CHIEFS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. Philadelphia: J.O. Lewis, 1836. 1838Thomas Loraine McKenney HISTORY OF THE INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA, WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES OF THE PRINCIPAL CHIEFS. EMBELLISHED WITH ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY PORTRAITS, FROM THE INDIAN GALLERY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR, AT WASHINGTON. Philadelphia, F. W. Greenough [etc.], 1838-44. 1839Alexander Philipp Maximilian REISE IN DAS INNERE NORD-AMERICA IN DEN JAHREN 1832 BIS 1834; VON MAXIMILIAN PRINZ ZU WIED. Coblenz, J. Hoelscher, 1839-41. 1841Crockett's Almanac CROCKETT'S ALMANAC. Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Baltimore: Fisher & Brothers, 1841; 1847, and 1852. 1844George Catlin CATLIN'S NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN PORTFOLIO. HUNTING SCENES AND AMUSEMENTS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS AND PRAIRIES OF AMERICA. London: George Catlin, C. and J. Adlard, printers, 1844. 1849Robert B. Honeyman, Jr. Collection PORCELAIN PLATES FROM THE ROBERT B. HONEYMAN, JR. COLLECTION, ca. 1849-ca. 1902. 1849Mary Henderson Eastman DAHCOTAH; OR, LIFE AND LEGENDS OF THE SIOUX AROUND FORT SNELLING. New York, J. Wiley, 1849. 1852James Hervey Simpson JOURNAL OF A MILITARY RECONNAISSANCE FROM SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, TO THE NAVAJO COUNTRY, MADE WITH THE TROOPS UNDER COMMAND OF BREVET LIEUTENANT COLONEL JOHN M. WASHINGTON, CHIEF OF NINTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, AND GOVERNOR OF NEW MEXICO, IN 1849. Philadelphia, Lippincott, Grambo and Co., 1852. 1853Henry Rowe Schoolcraft INFORMATION RESPECTING THE HISTORY, CONDITION AND PROSPECTS OF THE INDIAN TRIBES OF THE UNITED STATES: COLLECTED AND PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, PER ACT OF CONGRESS OF MARCH 3D, 1847. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, 1853-1856. Series: Ethnological Researches, Respecting the Red Man of America. 6 vols. 1853Mary Henderson Eastman THE AMERICAN ABORIGINAL PORTFOLIO. Philadelphia, Lippincott, Grambo & Co. [c1853]. Illustrated By Seth Eastman. 1856Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion GLEASON'S PICTORIAL DRAWING-ROOM COMPANION. 1856. Boston, F. Gleason [etc.], Volume XI, No. 24, Whole Number 284, December 13, 1856. 1857Royal B. Stratton LIFE AMONG THE INDIANS : BEING AN INTERESTING NARRATIVE OF THE CAPTIVITY OF THE OATMAN GIRLS, AMONG THE APACHE AND MOHAVE INDIANS . . . San Francisco: Whitton, Towne & Co.'s Excelsior Steam Power Presses, 1857. 1858Balduin Mollhausen TAGEBUCH EINER REISE VOM MISSISSIPPI NACH DEN KUSTEN DER SUDSEE. Von Balduin Mollhausen. Eingefuhrt von Alexander von Humboldt. Mit 13 Illustrationen in Oelfarben-und Tondruck, 10 Holzschnitten und 1 Karte. Leipzig, H. Mendelssohn, 1858. 1859Paul Kane WANDERINGS OF AN ARTIST AMONG THE INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA, FROM CANADA TO VANCOUVER'S ISLAND AND OREGON, THROUGH THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY'S TERRITORY AND BACK AGAIN. London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, 1859. 1860Mining Scene MINING SCENE WITH A FLUME AND MINERS, INCLUDING A CALIFORNIA INDIAN (?) IN FOREGROUND, (between ca. 1855 and 1860) 1867Eadweard Muybridge LONE MOUNTAIN COLLEGE COLLECTION OF STEREOGRAPHS, ca. 1867-ca. 1880 1871War Department. Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army WAR DEPARTMENT. CORPS OF ENGINEERS, U.S. ARMY. GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS WEST OF THE 100TH MERIDIAN, 1871-1874. 1875Donald McKay and Jack's Capturers PORTRAIT MISCELLANY, ca. 1860-ca. 1945? 1877Richard Irving Dodge THE HUNTING GROUNDS OF THE GREAT WEST; A DESCRIPTION OF THE PLAINS, GAME, AND INDIANS OF THE GREAT NORTH AMERICAN DESERT. London, Chatto & Windus, 1877. 1880Frank Hamilton Cushing ALMOST A LIFE, OR SAVED BY THE INDIANS: A TRUTHFUL STORY OF LIFE AMONG OUR WESTERN INDIANS. Alternate title: FRANK CUSHING'S STORY. HOW THE GREAT INDIAN SAGWA SAVED THE LIFE OF THE FAMOUS ETHNOLOGIST. New York: s.n., ca. 1880. 1883Frank Triplett CONQUERING THE WILDERNESS; OR, NEW PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE PIONEER HEROES AND HEROINES OF AMERICA . . . New York and St. Louis: N.D. Thompson & Company, 1883. 1884Red Ralph, the River Rover, or, the Brother’s Revenge BEADLE'S HALF DIME LIBRARY. NEW YORK, BEADLE AND ADAMS. Vol. XIV, No. 350 1886"Geronimo and Our Indian Policy," June 12, 1886. Pp. 8-9. THE WASP. San Francisco, Calif.: Wasp Pub. Co., 1876-1928. 1886"His Just Dessert," September 11, 1886. Pp. 7-8. THE WASP. San Francisco, Calif.: Wasp Pub. Co., 1876-1928. 1890Clinton Hart Merriam C. HART MERRIAM COLLECTION OF NATIVE AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHS, ca. 1890-1938. 1890Lienzo De Tlaxcala LIENZO DE TLAXCALA, Facsimile, n.p., ca. 1890 1890Richard Irving Dodge OUR WILD INDIANS; THIRTY-THREE YEARS' PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AMONG THE RED MEN OF THE GREAT WEST. A POPULAR ACCOUNT OF THEIR SOCIAL LIFE, RELIGION, HABITS, TRAITS, CUSTOMS, EXPLOITS, ETC. WITH THRILLING ADVENTURES AND EXPERIENCES ON THE GREAT PLAINS AND IN THE MOUNTAINS OF OUR WIDE FRONTIER. Hartford, Chicago, A.D. Worthington and Company; A.G. Nettleton & Co.; 1890 [c1882]. 1892Hubert Howe Bancroft INDIANS. BANCROFT LIBRARY SCRAPBOOKS, Volume 78. 1896Vernon Bailey WILDLIFE, PLANTS, INDIANS, AND WESTERN SCENES FROM THE VERNON BAILEY COLLECTION, ca. 1896-ca. 1910. n.d.Karl Friedrich May OLD SHATTERHAND QUARTETT, Germany: s.n., s.d. 1907Young Wild West and the Sioux Scalpers; or, How Arietta Saved Her Life The Wild West Weekly: A Magazine Containing Stories, Sketches Etc. of Western Life. Issued Weekly — By Subscription $ 2.50 per Year. Copyright by Frank Tousey, Publisher, 24 Union Square, New York. 1908George Wharton James WHAT THE WHITE RACE MAY LEARN FROM THE INDIAN. Chicago: Forbes & Company, 1908. 1910Edward S. Curtis IN A PIEGAN LODGE. A set of 20 portfolios of numbered plates, supplement to the multi-volume publication The North American Indian: Being a Series of Volumes Picturing and Describing the Indians of the United States, and Alaska; Written, Illustrated, and Published by Edward S. Curtis; Edited by Frederick Webb Hodge; Foreword by Theodore Roosevelt; Field Research Conducted Under the Patronage of J. Pierpont Morgan and published in Seattle by E.S. Curtis; and in Cambridge, Massachusetts by The University Press, 1907-30. ca. 1910Advertising Posters ADVERTISING POSTERS SHOWING WESTERN SCENES, ca. 1910. 1911Ishi LANTERN SLIDES RELATING TO ISHI, ca. 1911-1916 1919The Cigarette Smoker. A Moki Indian. Arizona AMERICAN AND AUSTRALIAN LINE. COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS OF SCENES ON THE LINE OF THE ATCHISON, TOPEKA & SANTA FE RAILWAY SYSTEM. Detroit?: Detroit Photographic Co., 1919? 1920Unidentified Indian Alfred Kroeber Papers 1926Gerald Cassidy Sketch for "Navajo’s Romance." GERALD CASSIDY PAPERS 1926Unidentified Indians with white children GERALD CASSIDY PAPERS 1927George Owen Baxter WESTERN STORY MAGAZINE. Vol. LXXI, No. 6, August 27, 1927. 1928Edward S. Curtis WOMAN AND CHILD NUNIVAK. A set of 20 portfolios of numbered plates, supplement to the multi-volume publication The North American Indian: Being a Series of Volumes Picturing and Describing the Indians of the United States, and Alaska; Written, Illustrated, and Published by Edward S. Curtis; Edited by Frederick Webb Hodge; Foreword by Theodore Roosevelt; Field Research Conducted Under the Patronage of J. Pierpont Morgan and published in Seattle by E.S. Curtis; and in Cambridge, Massachusetts by The University Press, 1907-30. 1930Ranching and Travel Views RANCHING AND TRAVEL VIEWS IN ARIZONA, NEW MEXICO AND MEXICO, 1924-1928 1935Royal B. Stratton LIFE AMONG THE INDIANS, OR: THE CAPTIVITY OF THE OATMAN GIRLS AMONG THE APACHE & MOHAVE INDIANS . . . San Francisco, Grabhorn Press, 1935. 1950Advertising Labels SCHMIDT LITHOGRAPH COMPANY RECORDS. ADVERTISING LABELS, Volume VI., ca. 1950. 1968Gilbert Shelton FEDS 'N' HEADS. Austin, Tex.: G. Shelton, c1968. 1996George Owen Baxter RED WIND AND THUNDER MOON. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1996.
Yay! Chronological order of images! This is probably a more helpful way of going through the website/images. But it's not the way the website suggests.
This photograph of a group of American Indians, dressed in native costumes and seated in a brand new American automobile, brings the traditional image of the American Indian into sharp contrast with the advances of the modern world. The continued use of the American Indian as a symbol of a vanished world is juxtaposed with the ultimate icon of post-World War I American progress, the automobile.
Another good analysis! But, how does this image connect to other "mass market appeal" images? Was this image broadly published?
The use of Native American imagery in commercial advertising is replete with depictions of Indian warriors, maidens, children, and stereotypical "injuns." The use of the American Indian is sometimes designed to evoke thoughts of a romanticized wilderness, and to imbue a product with all the benefits of a natural, unadulterated climate. On other occasions illustrations are used to create an atmosphere of mythical goodness and purity by presenting "simple creatures" that live uncomplicated lives.
Good intro to group of advertising images. Connects them together and analyzes why and how they were depicted to advertise products.
Geronimo (jur-ahn'-i-moh), or Goyathlay ("one who yawns"), was born in 1829 in what is today western New Mexico
Same text as previous image. Very noticeable when you can only go forward/backward and not pick out of images all together. Wish it was more analysis of image than bio sketch of Geronimo.
These two images offer contrasting views of the American Indian. The first image (left), "The Indian of the Novelist," presents the romanticized view of the Indian as a noble savage, at home and at peace in the wilderness. The second image (right), "The Genuine Article," offers the author's preferred characterization of the Indian as a drunken blight upon civilization. The sign in the window of the Great Spirit Saloon reads "Poor Indians Friend," and the empty bottle lying in the street at the feet of the drunken Indian is labeled "Stomach Bitters."
Good analytical tool of author to compare and contrast these images. Leads to richer analysis.
The theme of family loss and personal transformation in female captivity stories plays strongly upon the struggle for survival that characterized the Anglo-American experience in the West. The righteousness of the migration westward is a blatant assumption, and the depiction of savage Indians descending upon civilized families plays into longstanding racial stereotypes.
This is the kind of analysis I was hoping for in other images! Connects this depiction and its themes to broader ideas about Native Americans and Westward migration. What stories does it reinforce and why? Love that this answers those questions!
Captivity stories placed women and children in sympathetic roles
Go further! Why is this a trope? Why is it significant? How has the artist in this image made the girls sympathetic figures? Why is this the story that is told?
Here, then, is a deliberately simplified portrayal of the American Indian as a drug-loving individual with limited intelligence, who is happy with his scanty clothes and shiftless lifestyle.
Good analysis, but again wish it went one step further. Why is it siginficant that Native Americans were portrayed this way in 1968?
I also think some of the problems of the whole website in connecting images and themes could be solved by more direct comparison (and contrast) to one another. How does this image compare to other images in the section? Does it portray Indians in similar ways? Why? Why not? Etc.
c1968.
Again, chronology all over the place!
This plate is a facsimile of Indian drawings, originally sketched with colored pencils and attributed to Big Back, a Cheyenne Indian.
Love this inclusion of a Cheyenne drawing! Wish there would be more of the credit in the citation given to him and less to Dodge who reproduced image. Also, now wishing there was a whole section on self-representation!
Beautiful images!
One historian described the Crockett-Indian relationships as "a pornography of racism and violence that hides beneath itself an epistemology of fear and fascination." On the rare occasion when Crockett looks upon Indians with anything less than pure hatred, his observations continue to feed upon common stereotypes. In describing an Indian brave and his small daughters ("Indian Notions"), Crockett states, "They lookt more like human creturs with human feelings, than any of the breed that I ever noed before."
Good context/analysis. Maybe this paragraph could have come earlier?
The short essay, "Crockett Boiling a Dead Indian, &C., For His Sick Bear," demonstrates the use of the "injun" as a vehicle for comedy, with no regard for the Indian as a human being.
More analysis which is good! The author is showing us how this image messaged Indians as non-human, stripping away the reader's empathy in 1841 when this was published. Should go one step further -- why does this matter?
he Crockett Almanacs, while valued for their early examples of American folklore and humor, are also replete with racist, sexist, bigoted, nativistic observations and language.
Good challenging of the work!!
1841; 1847, and 1852.
Again! Jumping all over the place in terms of chronology. Why?
which depicted the life of the Southwestern Indians.
How widely known were these?
Few artists of the Taos and Sante Fe School of painting were more popular or respected than Cassidy, and his works are found in museums and private collections around the globe.
Is fine art "mass media" or "mass market appeal?" How does this image fit in with the other images in this section?
Copies such as this one show evidence of more than one hundred years wear and tear, most obvious in the increasing brittleness and flaking of the pages.
But what does it say about Native Americans and who they were portrayed and understood at this time/place? What does this tell us about general public's perception of the West and Native Americans?
April 8, 1884
Again we are jumping all over in terms of chronology! I am OK not going in chronological order if it seems like there's another order to things, but this just seems jumpy.
MERICAN AND AUSTRALIAN LINE. COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS OF SCENES ON THE LINE OF THE ATCHISON, TOPEKA & SANTA FE RAILWAY SYSTEM.
Again I wish there was more of an introduction to the section and what will be included in this section.
Eadweard MuybridgeLONE MOUNTAIN COLLEGE COLLECTION OF STEREOGRAPHS, ca. 1867-ca. 1880
Love the information on this page and these images .... wish the writing connected it more to thesis of exhibition and section.
hat is believed to be the earliest photographic representation of an American Indian in The Bancroft Library collections.
Cool! But, does it have significance beyond that? We don't have much historical context or information on this. How does it connect to the other images? Should it really be considered ethnography?
C.R. Savage, Salt Lake City, Utah,"
Good connection to Utah! Wish this information was in heading. This was just part of C. Hart Merriam's collection.... but its creator is probably more significant than who collected it.
Wish there was a little more info on Savage since he is such an interesting figure.
his legacy includes a photographic archive of posed and designed photographs that may tell us more about the photographers than they do about the subject.
Is that true of most of these images?
Ishi was "discovered" in August 1911 and he soon became an irresistible subject for anthropologists such as Alfred Kroeber.
Language is so problematic! Even though they use quotation marks to question it a little bit .... needs to be more directly challenged.
He would, he added, consider post-contact culture only when necessary to "form an estimate of an ancient vanished culture."
Bancroft should have challenged this more. We know that this is a colonizing/stereotypical misnomer. There is no such thing as a "vanished culture." However, a more casual reader might just take that as fact.
Alfred Kroeber
This image makes me laugh! Love that they included a photo of the photographer.
The caption for this image reads,
Thank you! This is how I wish each quotation of the book started. Thank you for being so direct whoever wrote this description!!
1856.
I really wish these were organized chronologically! It's jarring to jump back and forth through time and have to reorient yourself with each new image.
The authenticity of the Curtis inventory, however, remains a crucial question to many observers. Do these images perpetuate a myth and reinforce a stereotype? Are the images more illuminating of the person who created the image, rather than the intended subject? As historian Gerald Vizenor writes, are photographs a poor and damaging substitute for the narrative? Are these Indians "the wounded fugitives of the camera?"
These are good questions and lines of inquiry for these images. Maybe go further with some of these lines of questioning? Also, examine other images from this same standpoint ...
In 1896, Edward S. Curtis began a project to record on film and text all available information on North American Indians. With financial support from J. Pierpont Morgan, Curtis continued this effort through 1930. In the course of his work Curtis created 40,000 negatives, with the majority of images prepared on glass plates. The result is a book of twenty volumes; each accompanied by a portfolio of plates.
This should be the first paragraph. Give us this broader context before the more specific details.
George Wharton JamesWHAT THE WHITE RACE MAY LEARN FROM THE INDIAN. Chicago: Forbes & Company, 1908.
The curators need to better connect all these images. They seem so random ... there isn't a natural flow. I wish they were better organized.
Mary married Seth Eastman in 1835 and her life was forever intertwined with her husband, who was a military man and a gifted artist. His drawings and paintings of the Dakota Indians in and around Fort Snelling rank among the most significant works of western American art.
Interesting connection to her husband. Will any of his work be in the exhibition?
I guess the illustrations are his and the text is hers. Wish that would have been made more clear from beginning.
The game of ball is universally popular among the North American
Many of these descriptions are the original text from the books; but some are a curator's commentary. I wish there was some design or formatting difference between the two.
Mary Henderson Eastman
Love a woman artist!
This newspaper article details the story of an Indian family, Frank and Juanita Dick, eighteen and sixteen years old, and their baby, Domingo. At the baby’s birth, the "head men" of the Chuccsanoc tribe decried that the child was a messenger of ill luck and should die.
Is this ethnography or mass media? Why is it in this category?
EARLYETHNOGRAPHY
Again, I want more of an intro text connecting these images and stating importance of this section/category.
One can only imagine what impressions of western America a European reader would derive from these striking illustrations.
Is this true? Can we only imagine? Are there accounts of how this was read in Germany? Any contemporary commentaries on it?
1908,
How is time an agent in these images? There is a huge gap between the images made in 1590 and these in 1908. How has time affected the images? Is time or place more significant for the images?
The originals in the royal houses of the Tlaxcalans were completed by 1560. They were painted by Tlaxcalan artists and represent an Indian sensibility, integrating the Indian and Spanish components of Cortés' forces.
So interesting! Should these be with the French and English depictions? Should they be grouped according to continent/region? I feel like there are key differences that might not be explored by putting them all in a "Foreign Views" section. I also want more analysis of HOW these differ from American and European depictions. Why is the "foreign" an important distinguisher for all the works in this section?
This 455-page volume includes eight color plates and thirteen woodcut illustrations, in addition to a partially colored folding map.
Again, I want more background information on how this fits into the larger context of Foreign Views and why it's included in the exhibition. How does it all tie together?
This porcelain salad plate is one of a set of six decorated with humorous scenes depicting early California life including adventures in gold fields, encounters with Indians and wild animals, and other scenes.
But who created it and why is it part of the "foreign views" section?
Through the De Bry illustrations, we see the first images of American Indians as presented to much of Europe.
That's interesting! I wish there was more analysis. What did they say to a European audience? How did this affect the way they were created and the way the Indians were portrayed?
initiated in 1590
Wow! So early!
Vue du Presidio Sn. Francisco [original drawing]Louis Choris Vue du Presidio Sn. Francisco [engraving]Louis Choris
Love that it shows the original sketch and the engraving! Very cool!
Louis Choris, an artist-explorer of the nineteenth century, was an early example of individuals who produced documentary sketches in pencil and ink to supplement the written and artifact record of expeditions.
This opening is much better! It explains who Louis Choris is and why he is significant to the exhibition. This is great to help the reader understand the following text and context.
Carver noted, "The men of every [Indian] nation differ in their dress very little from each other, except those who trade with the Europeans, these exchange their furs for blankets, shirts, and other apparel, which they wear as much for ornament as necessity . . . They paint their faces red and black, which they esteem as greatly ornamental." Nearly one hundred years after its publication, the noted historian Moses Coit Tyler described the work as having "unsurpassed value" and offering "true and precise" information concerning the "manners, customs, religion, and language of the Indians." Subsequent scholarship, however, has cast serious doubt upon the authenticity and accuracy of the text. E.G. Bourne, in a 1906 essay published in the American Historical Review, summarized the situation, "Scholars are in general agreement that much of the work in this volume is an abridgement or adaptation of historical writings by Charlevoix, Adair, and La Hontan. Entire chapters read as near verbatim text from one or more of these other authors."
This writing is a little disjointed; it could benefit from better organization.
This striking copper colorplate image is one of two illustrations of Indians presented in this work.
Also, this introductory sentence doesn't give enough context. What "work" is this? And what is its significance? The reader can deduce this from the citation above ... but help them out!
FOREIGNVIEWS
This is a new section but there's no introductory text that connects the 9 images that are in this section. I wish there was a short intro that connected these images together in one section and then tied them back to the whole website/exhibition.
Kaa Nun Der Waaguinse Zoo
There is so much text on this page for one image! I wish they had a shorter (70-100 word) description and then an option to see this extended version. Visitors do not want to read so much text and this can be off-putting.
I do understand that these descriptions are the original text from the book; but it's too much for an exhibition. I wish the curators would have edited them down or included their own short commentary and then had these available for those interested. This much text is just overwhelming for the viewer.
No modern dandy, fresh from the fashionable tailor's hands and from whom all his graces and greatness are derived, could be more fastidiously particular in his outward adornment, appropriate more pains, or cherish more pleasure in the perfection of his personal appearance than did the young chieftains of this opulent Miami tribe. It is a weakness which not only aboriginal but more civilized men not unfrequently exhibit.
This section would have been a perfect short description that engages the viewer with the artwork but doesn't give too much information or give them "reading fatigue."
I do understand that these descriptions are the original text from the book; but it's too much for an exhibition. I wish the curators would have edited them down or included their own short commentary and then had these available for those interested. This much text is just overwhelming for the viewer.
A Chippeway Squaw and Child
Stunning image.
Shing Gaa Ba W'osin The Figure'd Stone
Then this one has no text! A short (70-100 word) extended label could have helped give a little more context to this image.
Conservation Treatment
I like that they're featuring a conservation page; it's a nice complement to the acquisition page. I do wish the whole website was organized differently to help the reader navigate these pages as they do seem a little out of place with the rest of the content, especially on the main website.
Its next public appearance was in Fall 2000 when it was prominently featured in the exhibition "Images of Native American Indians" in the Bancroft Gallery. It was presented there in company with McKenney and Hall, Catlin, and Bodmer and a wealth of other depictions of Native Americans.
The subject of the website. I wonder how prominently the book was featured in the exhibition since it is such a major aspect of this website?
My first reaction was that either Lewis or the lithographer was not a great artist. The details in the plates—costumes, ornament, weapons—were wonderful, but the portrayal of the figures did seem crude (perhaps I’d seen too much of McKenney and Hall). Despite this quibble, there is something fascinating about these images. They are not overworked and romanticized, they project a sense of immediacy that is almost unnerving.
It is really interesting to hear the curator's first thoughts upon receiving the work.
we had a curatorial caucus
I love this phrase! I think I'll start using it!
Some people are born to shop. Bancroft curators are paid to shop.
This is a fun story and gives info behind-the-scenes to how the library works and how this work was acquired. I think the public loves stuff like this!
I wonder if this should have been even more separate from the historical information that was laid out in the earlier sections? Maybe organized with a "historical" section and a "behind-the-scenes" section (which would include the acquisition and conservation as subsections). This is very interesting but it feels like we're getting further from the focus/thesis of the main website.
The Portfolio, as the first colorplate publication of Native Americans has influenced not only his contemporaries but also generations of artists, authors, and scholars.
This is a bold, argumentative claim! Where is the evidence that it has influenced artists, authors, scholars ? The previous paragraphs described how McKenney's book was much more popular and influential. This should have been argued more and the evidence more clearly laid out.
he original Lewis drawings became part of the Smithsonian Institution collection. The entire body of work was destroyed in an infamous 1865 fire.
Sad that originals are gone. It would be interesting to compare them to prints and see if any changes were made for publishing.
In fact, the tenth installment includes three plates that are not the work of Lewis, another indication of his problems with the publisher.
Interesting! How took over in installment 10?
Lewis, and many of his contemporaries, suffered from problems with printers, subscribers, and creditors. This explains the fact that the majority of surviving copies, including The Bancroft Library's version, contains only seventy-two plates (nine installments). Copies with all eighty plates (ten installments) are quite rare.
Good note. Wish the library's version had all 10 installments!
Lewis executed portraits and interviewed Indian chiefs who attended these meetings.
How much of the text in the book was from these interviews? Interesting that interviewing was part of his process. I wonder how that affected his portraits.
The United States Indian Department commissioned Lewis to attend government-sponsored Indian councils and treaty ceremonies between 1825 and 1828.
Lewis was attending government-sponsored Indian councils and treaty ceremonies; seeing American Indians on terms of U.S. government and not on their own terms.
Despite, or possibly because of his attention to authentic details, Lewis’ work appeared clumsy and amateurish compared to the finely finished and somewhat romanticized images in McKenney and Hall’s History.
An important detail and comparison to McKenney's images and book. When discussing imagining the West, it's notable that even the earliest media were romanticized and more successful when romanticized.
so their order in any particular volume was random.
Very interesting, because the order and juxtaposition of images could totally change the way the images are read.
The plates in the Port Folio were issued unbound and unnumbered, so it is impossible today to say which group of eight plates belongs to which part.
Interesting context to how the plates were originally produced and published. Sad we don't know the original parts and groupings.
a resentful Lewis resolved to beat him to the punch.
This is just a great sentence! Love the word choice.
In the role of official artist, Lewis had accompanied Thomas L. McKenney, Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Lewis Cass, Governor of the Michigan Territory, to many treaty councils in the upper Midwest in the 1820s and early 1830s. He sketched the Indian chiefs from life then finished the portraits when he returned to Detroit. Learning that McKenney planned to publish a "Portrait Gallery of American Indians" including some of his own work, a resentful Lewis resolved to beat him to the punch.
This is the best written copy on the website thus far. I love that it gives relevant context to what we've already encountered.
Anthony Bliss Curator, Rare Books Collection The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley
I like that the author's name is right at the beginning. Shows us immediately who is writing the content in this section
COLOR PLATEBOOKS(4 of 4) PREVIOUSNEXT EXHIBITIONHOME PORTRAYALSOF NATIVEAMERICANS TIMELINE EXHIBITIONCHECKLIST | BRIEF HISTORY | JAMES OTTO LEWIS | THE ACQUISITION | CONSERVATION | SELECTED PLATES | | Bancroft Home | General Information | Collections | Research Programs || Reference and Access Services | News, Events, Exhibitions, Publications || Friends of The Bancroft Library | Site Map | Search The Bancroft Library Website || UC Berkeley Library Home | Catalogs | Search the Library Website | Copyright (C) 2006 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Document maintained by The Bancroft Library. Last update 12/08/06. Server manager: Contact
Additionally, is this too much content for one website? Should this be its own website that isn't embedded in the larger site?
COLOR PLATEBOOKS(4 of 4) PREVIOUSNEXT EXHIBITIONHOME PORTRAYALSOF NATIVEAMERICANS TIMELINE EXHIBITIONCHECKLIST
This page is a little confusing because it feels like we're in a whole new section instead of finishing the color plate section.
I wish that they would have kept the design consistent for each of the 4 parts of the color plate section, or, made this its own section. This landing page would have made more sense if it was its own section but its jarring to encounter as part of another section.
Karl Bodmer became a highly respected artist, although he turned away from North American subjects upon his return to Europe. Bodmer's commission on this work was cancelled, however, upon the discovery that he had employed Jean Francois Millet, then a young artist, to perform much of the work for him, including the figures of American Indians. Bodmer died on October 30, 1893, unaware of the significance of his work on Plains Indians.
I wonder if some of the disjointed aspect of text comes from having multiple authors? This information was good, and better at directing viewer back to image, but still feels disconnected from the text and images we've already encountered.
Karl Bodmer was an unlikely artist of American Indians. Born in Riesbach, Tiefenbrunnen, near Zurich, Switzerland, Bodmer furthered his study of art in Paris. Prince Maximilian, a German scientist, met Bodmer when the young artist sketched his way across Germany. Maximilian hired Bodmer to accompany him to North America in order to study the Plains Indians.
How is he connected to Thomas McKenney or the images/artists we've already encountered in this exhibition? I wish the website was helping us connect these dots more deliberately.
S
These arrows don't work which is frustrating! Have to click the words not the arrows.
one great occasion for which Keokuk was honored by both Sauk and Fox is his brilliant debate in Washington, 1837, against the representatives of the Sioux and other tribes before government officials to establish the territorial claims of the Sauk and Fox in what is now the state of Iowa. He died in Kansas in 1848 but in 1883 his remains were removed to Keokuk, Iowa.
Even these descriptions that are focused and tied to one of the images above, are not helping the viewer engage meaningfully with the artwork. They are just biographies of the figures ..... not text that is helping us engage with and analyze the images as documents or historical artifacts. The images are only acting as illustrations to these biographies.
In February 1859, Thomas McKenney died, not knowing that his life's work would eventually stand as one of the major American publications of the nineteenth century.
This text is interesting and gives good context to who Thomas McKenney is and his role in the creation of these documents/images. However, it is a little choppy and I wish it helped us connect more to the images. It's almost as if this text could be printed totally independent of the images on the website or with other images and be totally fine .... I wish the text pointed us back to the images more and created a more connected experience.
Extended description
I like that the reader can choose to view an extended description; but still feel like the regular descriptions are too long for a general audience.
HISTORY OF THE INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA, WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES OF THE PRINCIPAL CHIEFS. EMBELLISHED WITH ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY PORTRAITS, FROM THE INDIAN GALLERY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR, AT WASHINGTON. Philadelphia, F. W. Greenough [etc.], 1838-44.
There is a LOT of text on these pages for just a few images!
George Catlin, born in 1796, demonstrated a life-long interest in the American Indian, as a painter, explorer, and author. His efforts on behalf of the Plains Indians arose from a concern that "the tribes of red men of North America, as a nation of human beings, are on their wane; that 'they are fast travelling to the shades of their fathers, toward the setting sun;' and that the traveler who would . . . see these people in their native simplicity and beauty, needs be hastily on his way to the prairies or Rocky Mountains, or he will . . . see them only as they are now seen on the frontiers, as a basket of dead game, — harassed, chased, bleeding and dead; with their plumage and colors despoiled."
This information about the artist also could have been a better place to start. The way the curator began his text was very confusing! A little more context, like this information on the artist, would have been helpful to start with.
This image reflects the continual struggle of American-European society to both represent and mis-represent the true "being" of American Indians. Is either image an accurate portrayal of an Indian?
This is a good assessment; I wish the curator would have started with this ... it's easy to get lost in the preceding text and this is a nice simple way to frame the image and how the viewer should consider it.
replacing the "noble Indian" of the de Bry engraving produced during the 1590s
Wish there was more context for this, or it was left out. The "de Bry engraving" isn't well-known enough just to drop in.
This was the image that Catlin traveled to the Great Plains to capture before the Indian race passed into oblivion.
This is a strange statement that a more general reader might take as fact. It would be great to have more background on Catlin or what the curator means by this .... it's dangerous to say the "Indian race passed into oblivion" without context or challenge. That might have been Catlin's belief or motivation, but I wish the curator would have contextualized it more.
In the left half of the picture, painter, explorer, and author George Catlin depicts the Assinibon Chief "Going to Washington"
We jump right into an analysis of a specific color-plate without a good broader context or instruction on how to view or contextualize these images. I wish there was a little more direction in the introduction, or in the section heading, before just jumping right in. Especially a better delineation of what is connecting all the images in this section and why we should care.
The image enlarges nicely to see lots of detail. Good navigation, easy to get back to the exhibition.
"Images of Native Americans,"
After looking through several of the images and sections, I do wish there was a more narrow scope or thesis that connected these images. The variety and diversity is impressive, but it doesn't seem like there is an argument or thesis more than "these are all images of Native Americans."
William E. Brown Jr. Head, Public Services The Bancroft Library May 2002
I like that this shows exactly who wrote this text and when.
Are the images an accurate portrayal of Native Americans? Do the illustrations represent a mis-interpreted view of American Indians by a white society? Is it possible to distinguish between the perceptions of the individuals who created and viewed these images years ago and present-day understanding of these same images? Do these images tell us more about the creators of such works than they reveal about the individuals depicted?
Good delineation of questions the exhibition (and website) hope to explore and answer. It might have been good for the curators to offer an answer/argument to these questions but I understand the desire to throw the questions out there and want the public to grapple with them.
Several of the original color plate illustrations have been reproduced and are available for viewing in the digital exhibit—only one color plate illustration from the volume could be viewed in the original exhibit.
This is great! Explains exactly how the website is enhancing the exhibition and why.
The digital exhibit offers several enhancements, including additional images and text, a timeline to facilitate the viewing of materials in a chronological sequence, and a checklist of exhibit items.
It is good that it is explaining how the website differs from the physical exhibition. I hope there is more detail on this as we get into the images; I would like to know which images and text are additional and why they chose to add these to the website but not the exhibition.
The panorama of images selected includes illustrations from rare books, pamphlets, journals, pulp magazines, newspapers, and ephemera in addition to selections of original photographs, including stereographs, lantern slides, and cyanotypes.
Wow! Love the variety of objects and materials. Indicates a diverse array of images.
The Bancroft Library houses one the world's finest collections of research materials relating to the history of California and the American West, and this exhibition presents a selection of visual materials relating to Native Americans.
I like the context this gives us about the institution and how this project fits into their broader mission and focus.
anuscript materials that debuted in the Fall of 2000
The dates of the exhibition is one of the "facts" that I wish was more clearly delineated. It debuted in 2000, but won an award in 2003. Was it up this entire time? When was it on display and how did it change?
| COLORPLATE BOOKS | MASS MARKET APPEAL | FOREIGN VIEWS | EARLY ETHNOGRAPHY | | EXHIBITION HOME | INTRODUCTION | THE NINE MILLIONTH VOLUME | TIMELINE | EXHIBITION CHECKLIST | CREDITS & COLOPHON | | Bancroft Home | General Information | Collections | Research Programs || Reference and Access Services | News, Events, Exhibitions, Publications || Friends of The Bancroft Library | Site Map | Search The Bancroft Library Website || UC Berkeley Library Home | Catalogs | Search the Library Website | Copyright (C) 2006 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Document maintained by The Bancroft Library. Last update 12/08/06. Server manager: Contact
Although I still think the design could be better, it's not terrible, and clearly communicates the four sections of the exhibition. The sections are interesting and I'm excited to see the content within each one and how the curators divided the objects to fit into each section. I imagine there is overlap between some of the objects and categories and am interested to see how the curators justified their divisions.
| INTRODUCTION | PORTRAYALS OF NATIVE AMERICANS | THE NINE MILLIONTH VOLUME | TIMELINE || EXHIBITION CHECKLIST | CREDITS & COLOPHON | | Bancroft Home | General Information | Collections | Research Programs || Reference and Access Services | News, Events, Exhibitions, Publications || Friends of The Bancroft Library | Site Map | Search The Bancroft Library Website || UC Berkeley Library Home | Catalogs | Search the Library Website | Copyright (C) 2006 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Document maintained by The Bancroft Library. Last update 12/08/06. Server manager: Contact
I like the design of this landing page. It clearly communicates the subject matter of the website and who is supplying the content.
Unfortunately, the link to the "RBMS" award is broken. It is nice that it says the award was given in 2003. It took me a while to figure out when the original exhibition was held at the Bancroft Library, and I wish the date of the original exhibition had been more clearly described on this landing page.
Last update 12/08/06.
It is good that they have the date that it was last updated. It would be great if it had been updated since 2006.
| INTRODUCTION | PORTRAYALS OF NATIVE AMERICANS | THE NINE MILLIONTH VOLUME | TIMELINE || EXHIBITION CHECKLIST | CREDITS & COLOPHON | | Bancroft Home | General Information | Collections | Research Programs || Reference and Access Services | News, Events, Exhibitions, Publications || Friends of The Bancroft Library | Site Map | Search The Bancroft Library Website || UC Berkeley Library Home | Catalogs | Search the Library Website | Copyright (C) 2006 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Document maintained by The Bancroft Library. Last update 12/21/06. Server manager: Contact
The design on this page is a little messy; could be cleaner, but it does communicate the different sections and the timeline of the project.