Pride and Dignity

Luminace: Aboriginal photographic portraits

When I first began my research at the National Archives, the Copyright Collection⁸ quickly became a focal point for my work in understanding the creation of the stereotypical imagery of the Indian. Photographers registered these images for copyright protection because of their potential market value. In 1910 and 1911, professional photographer, A. Rafton Canning, working out of Lethbridge, Alberta, copyrighted two series of photographs of the Blood people from the nearby reserve, including a series of the Blood Indian pow-wow gathering. The second series is of the Joe Healy family. In them, Canning recreated scenes straight out of a Hollywood western. Canning's 1911 photograph "Killed by Blood Indians" (Fig. 17) reveals a stereotypical interpretation of the Indian warrior. Three Blood men are posed, standing over the prone body of an actor who appears to be playing the role of the dead white man, with several arrows protruding from his body. This photograph speaks more about white society and its attitudes towards Aboriginal people than about the realities of life on the Blood Reserve in 1911. Canning also produced an early documentary sequence of the Blood Indian pow-wow in 1910. Ranging from the typical views of the "Indian Tipi Village"; the opening parade of horse-mounted warriors; to scenes of the actual pow-wow grounds, complete with action sequences of the dancers. By placing these two sequences of photographs together Canning would appear to have carried two cameras: one for producing an image conforming to the stereotype, and the other to capture a sense of reality.

Recalling Catlin's dual portrait of Wi-jun-jon, I have Catlinized Canning's series with Pam Harris' 1973 photograph "Two Inuit workmen, Spence Bay, Northwest Territories" (Fig. 18) so as to illustrate a view of how, despite society's perception of Aboriginal culture caught in a time warp, it has actually shifted and adapted to the many social intrusions since the 1830s. Recently, a Nisga'a leader was interviewed on television after their breakthrough land claim settlement and pointed to a historical photograph of one of their early leaders who began the land claim process in 1900. This portrait, that could easily have come from the Copyright Collection, as redefined by the Nisga'a, adds to the historical continuity of the Nisga'a.

Source

Figure 17 - "Killed by Blood Indians." Photographer: A. Rafton Canning. Silver gelatin print. National Archives of Canada

Source

Figure 18 - Two Inuit workmen, Spence Bay, Northwest Territories, 1973. Photograher: Pam Harris. Silver gelatin print. National Archives of Canada

 

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