Pride and Dignity

Luminace: Aboriginal photographic portraits

Throughout my research, one of the areas of concern that emerged was the representation of Aboriginal women. In general, photographers have shown Aboriginal women as subservient to a dominant male figure. The caption usually identifies the man and leaves the woman nameless, often referred to as a "squaw or wife of." Many times women have been pictured sitting on the ground and looking away from the camera. While neither would be uncommon in the Aboriginal world, when the portraits were taken out of the community and displayed, they were usually captioned as squaws, a dismissive term that robs women of their dignity, power and humanity. I wanted to present an image that spoke more accurately to the strength of Aboriginal women. The photograph "Indians assembled at Shaqannapi Point for a pow-wow held in honour of the visit of H.R.H. the Duke of Cornwall and York, Calgary, Alberta, September 28, 1901," (Fig. 8) a group portrait of Blackfoot women who posed for the photographer during the 1901 Royal Tour reveals an interesting view. Although not named, the women look directly at the photographer, and through him, at us, the viewers. Seen as a group, the women present a formidable presence with a variety of stances and expressions. The horse-mounted male warriors remain in the background providing a backdrop for the women. Unlike the portrait of Bear Bull, with its use of non-detailed open space, this group portrait has an important sense of depth of field. But the original print was no bigger than a four-by-six inch print in a photo album. I had to use a magnifying glass to pick out the details. From the original glass plate negative, a new copy negative was made, allowing a new 20 x 24-inch print to be made. Now there was plenty of information to consider in developing a sense of place and time. Visible on closer examination are ethnographic details such as the thunderbird design on the woman's (second from the left) fur breastplate and the uniquely Blackfoot feather headpiece worn by several women. Several non-natives are also seen mixed in with the women.

During this time, the group of Blackfoot needed special permission from the local Canadian government Indian agent to leave the reserve. After the 1885 Saskatchewan uprising the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs developed tactics to prevent the movement of Aboriginal people between reserves.⁶ In this case, permission was probably required to leave the reserve to entertain the visiting dignitaries. Once they were finished they would return to the reserve and assume their daily lives, a reality caught by the portrait of women working as farm labourers on a sugarbeet farm in Raymond, Alberta (Fig. 9).

Source

Figure 8 - Indians assembled at Shaqannapi Point for a pow-wow held in honour of the visit of H.R.H. the Duke of Cornwall and York, Calgary, Alberta, September 28, 1901. Photographer: Notman of the Topley Studio. Modern print from a glass negative. National Archives of Canada

Source

Figure 9 - Cree family working as farm labourers on a sugar beet farm in Raymond Alberta, ca. 1910. Photographer: John Woodruff. Silver gelatin print. National Archives of Canada

 

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