Virtual Discover Series: Photography

Thank you for your interest in this program! We are pleased to share the Zoom recording and resources presented on May 20, 2020, in the third of four sessions in this series.

Session 3: Misidentifications in the Pohrt Collection of Native American Photography Resources and Links

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The Richard Pohrt Jr. Collection of Native American Photography Finding Aid | Catalog Records U-M Press Release, "Clements Library acquires collection of rare Native American photographs," Dec. 2019 [link] Jeff Karoub, "Collaboration Key to Assembling Native American photo trove." AP: Dec. 23, 2019. [link] Jakob Dopp, "Looks Can Be Deceiving: Issues Regarding 19th-Century Native American Photographs." Clements Library Chronicles: Dec. 23, 2019. [link]

Selected Catalog Records Sitting Bear - Arikara Chief. 1880. [link] Billie Fewell (Billy Bowlegs III). 1897. [link] For more information about the Welsh Indians myth, see Jakob Dopp, "A Profound and Endearing Impression," The Quarto 52 p. 6-7. Mandan village (dirt lodges), Ft. Berthold, supposed descendants of a Welsh colony. 1878. [link] 1st and 2nd Chiefs of the Mandans, descendants of a colony of Welch. 1878. [link] Enoch Hoag - Caddo chief. 1889. [link] Ahpeatone - Kiowa chief / Trager & Kuhn. 1891. [link] Ahpeatone and wife. 1895. [link] Chief Young Man Afraid of his Horses and his Tepee taken at Pine Ridge Agency S.D. Jan 17th 1891. [link]

Trager & Kuhn did manage to correctly identify Young Man Afraid of His Horses in this portrait showing the Lakota chief standing in front of his tipi. It is worth noting that “Young Man Afraid of His Horses” is a clunky mistranslation that would seem to suggest this was a man afraid of his own horses. This name was actually passed down from his father (Old Man Afraid of His Horses), the true meaning of which implied that they (his enemies) became afraid at the mere sight of his horse entering the battlefield.

Living on a reservation in Oklahoma, an indigenous family poses for a souvenir photograph purporting to show the "home life" of Sac (Sauk) and Fox Indians. The photo was originally taken around 1909, but this copy was reproduced as a stereoscope view in the 1920s by the Keystone Publishing Company. Home Life of Sac and Fox Indians, With Sleeping Papoose. S. & F. Reservation, Oklahoma. [link]

More Clements Library Resources Native American History Subject Guide [link] "The Best of the West," The Quarto No. 52 (Winter/Spring 2020) [link] "Native Americans," The Quarto No. 32 (Fall/Winter 2009) [link] Clements Library Image Bank [link] Email Graphics Cataloger Jakob Dopp with questions or information to share. Search Tools: Online Catalog | Online Finding Aids Other Resources Joanna Cohan Scherer, "You Can't Believe Your Eyes: Inaccuracies in Photographs of North American Indians" [link] For a Love of His People: The Photography of Horace Poolaw [link]

Final Episode in this Virtual Series:

May 27 - Photography Collectors and their Collections

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Catch up on the recordings of previous episodes: May 6 - Origins of Photography  May 13 - Copies & Manipulations in 19th century Photography

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