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ARCHIVED - Framing Canada:
A Photographic Memory

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Essays

Aboriginal Peoples

Gallery - The North American Indian by Edward S. Curtis

Edward Curtis portrayed himself as an ethnologist, but it is widely recognized that he embellished his sitters' costumes and paid them to pose according to his own aesthetic sensibility. Today, his highly artistic body of work raises important questions about authenticity and the politics of Aboriginal representation; while his work continues to impact popular culture, it must be recognized that he portrayed Aboriginal people as stuck in a romantic past.

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Photograph of a Hesquiaht woman from the Central Nootka tribe, British Columbia, 1916

Portrait of a Hesquiaht woman from the Central Nootka tribe
British Columbia, 1916
Photographer: Edward S. Curtis
PA-039476
Source

Photograph of an Aboriginal woman in traditional clothing and jewelry, date unknown

Portrait of Kalispel
Unknown location, unknown date
Photographer: Edward S. Curtis
C-003504
Source

Photograph of an Aboriginal man standing on the shore with a spear, British Columbia, 1916

"The Whaler"
British Columbia, 1916
Photographer: Edward S. Curtis
C-026050
Source

Photograph of a Cree man, Lac des Îles, Saskatchewan, 1928

Portrait of a Cree man
Lac des Îles, Saskatchewan, 1928
Photographer: Edward S. Curtis
PA-039702
Source