On The Quinault River

1912

American, 1868-1952

At the time that Curtis opened his photographic studio in Seattle in the early 1890s, Native peoples all over North America had been disenfranchised from their ancestral lands and moved to reservations. In the northwest, the Potlatch ceremony-gathering for ritual observances whereby oral histories are transmitted and ceremonial dances are taught-had been banned and Native children had been placed in residential boarding schools. An amateur ethnologist, Curtis conceived of the ambitious project to photographically document all remaining Native groups, believing (as many others did) that they would soon become extinct. The empty canoe seems to suggest the absence of Native people who, contrary to Curtis' prediction, played an important role in the labor force-in fishing, forestry, agriculture-and in the war effort.

Photogravure on vellum (paper)

15 1/2 x 11 7/16 in. (39.3 x 29.1 cm)

Gift of John H. Hauberg

86.154

Photo: Elizabeth Mann

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "The View From Here: The Pacific Northwest 1800-1930," August 8, 2003 - February 29, 2004

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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