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MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS, No. 9.
WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1877.[Pg ii]
[Pg iii]
Office of United States Geological andGeographical Survey of the Territories,
Washington, D. C., November 1, 1877.
The collection of photographic portraits of North AmericanIndians described in the following "Catalogue" is undoubtedlythe largest and most valuable one extant. It has been made atgreat labor and expense, during a period of about twenty-fiveyears, and now embraces over one thousand negatives, representingno less than twenty-five tribes. Many of the individualsportrayed have meanwhile died; others, from variouscauses, are not now accessible; the opportunity of securingmany of the subjects, such as scenes and incidents, has ofcourse passed away. The collection being thus unique, andnot to be reproduced at any expenditure of money, time, orlabor, its value for ethnological purposes cannot easily be over-estimated.
Now that the tribal relations of these Indians are fast beingsuccessively sundered by the process of removal to reservations,which so greatly modifies the habits and particularly the styleof dress of the aborigines, the value of such a graphic recordof the past increases year by year; and there will remain nomore trustworthy evidence of what the Indians have been thanthat afforded by these faithful sun-pictures, many of whichrepresent the villages, dwellings, and modes of life of thesemost interesting people, and historical incidents of the respectivetribes, as well as the faces, dresses, and accoutrements ofmany prominent individuals.
Those who have never attempted to secure photographs andmeasurements or other details of the physique of Indians, inshort, any reliable statistics of individuals or bands, can hardlyrealize the obstacles to be overcome. The American Indian isextremely superstitious, and every attempt to take his pictureis rendered difficult if not entirely frustrated by his deeply-rootedbelief that the process places some portion of himself inthe power of the white man, and his suspicion that such controlmay be used to his injury. No prescribed regulations for thetaking of photographs, therefore, are likely to be fully carried[Pg iv]out. As a rule, front and profile views have been secured wheneverpracticable. Usually it is only when an Indian is subjectedto confinement that those measurements of his person whichare suitable for anthropological purposes can be secured. Inmost cases the Indian will not allow his person to be handledat all, nor submit to any inconvenience whatever. Much tactand perseverance are required to overcome his superstitiousnotions, and in many cases, even of the most noted chiefs of severaltribes, no portrait can be obtained by any inducement whatever.If, therefore, the collection fails to meet the full requirementsof the anthropologist, it must be remembered that theobstacles in the way of realizing his ideal of a perfect collectionare insurmountable.
About two hundred of the portraits, or one-fifth of thewhole collection, have been derived from various sources, andmost of these are pictures of Indians composing the severaldelegations that have visited Was