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Edward Sheriff Curtis: Visions of a Vanishing Race
First published in 1976, this book is the classic photographic record of Native American life by one of America’s greatest photographers. From 1904 to 1930 Edward Sheriff Curtis sought out the vanishing tribes of Native Americans with an unwavering passion and dedication. His life’s work was to record the faces and lifestyles of the Indians before they vanished forever. He photographed more than eighty tribes, from the Southwest to the Arctic. It was an achievement both poignant and monumental. For this book, Curtis’s daughter, Florence, selected 175 of her father’s greatest photographs. She has also collaborated closely with Victor Boesen to give readers a moving and detailed biography of Curtis’s life and work. In addition, there is a memoir of Curtis by his son, Harold.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 2, 2021
This is a book about a great photographer and ethnologist who did his best to document the lives of Native Americans. He set out to discover the peoples, beliefs and practices of hundreds of tribes and to memorialize them. His commitment to this work over three decades is awe inspiring. He sacrificed his family, his body and more lucrative work to go where his passion led him. It made me want to see his ultimate work and to know more about his subjects and to see more of his pictures.
January 26, 2020
Who's vanishing?
August 8, 2025
The first part of the book is a narrative of Curtis’ efforts to get his photographic record of the North American Indian published. It is quite a saga, ranging from dealing with a cranky editor and to a perpetual quest to secure funding for his photo project that involved hobnobbing with the country’s rich and powerful, including President Theodore Roosevelt, all the while traveling back and forth to the East coast from his fieldwork in the often remote western U.S.
Part of this bureaucratic phase of Curtis’ work involved dealing with the criticism of eminent university personages such as Boaz at Columbia who questioned the validity of Curtis’ work without having had “a formal degree in ethnological research.”
On the Harriman expedition to Alaska, there’s an interesting reference to John Muir and John Burroughs “who spent most of their time in heated argument with each other.”
Curtis’ dedication to this project - to the detriment of his family life and probably his personal health - stands out. The account of his travels by sea in stormy weather on another Alaska trip was gripping: what possessed a photographer to take such risks to get his photos?
Photos taken by Curtis are sprinkled throughout the narrative portion of the book in the first half. The second half contains the best photos from his portfolio, as selected by his daughter who also is the the co-author of the text. Each photo is a marvel. There is criticism of Curtis’s staging for best photographic effect, thus making their authenticity questionable. As Curtis points out, by the time of these photos, the Indians of North America had long been exposed to white culture and, though variable in time and place, authenticity was inherently a matter of degree. These are photos of Indians as they were at the turn of the 19th century. They are of people and, arguably, scenes that are long gone in reality, but are preserved in pictures. They are a documentation of the last stages of North American Indian life before it confronted the all-pervasiveness of white culture, big time.
Part of this bureaucratic phase of Curtis’ work involved dealing with the criticism of eminent university personages such as Boaz at Columbia who questioned the validity of Curtis’ work without having had “a formal degree in ethnological research.”
On the Harriman expedition to Alaska, there’s an interesting reference to John Muir and John Burroughs “who spent most of their time in heated argument with each other.”
Curtis’ dedication to this project - to the detriment of his family life and probably his personal health - stands out. The account of his travels by sea in stormy weather on another Alaska trip was gripping: what possessed a photographer to take such risks to get his photos?
Photos taken by Curtis are sprinkled throughout the narrative portion of the book in the first half. The second half contains the best photos from his portfolio, as selected by his daughter who also is the the co-author of the text. Each photo is a marvel. There is criticism of Curtis’s staging for best photographic effect, thus making their authenticity questionable. As Curtis points out, by the time of these photos, the Indians of North America had long been exposed to white culture and, though variable in time and place, authenticity was inherently a matter of degree. These are photos of Indians as they were at the turn of the 19th century. They are of people and, arguably, scenes that are long gone in reality, but are preserved in pictures. They are a documentation of the last stages of North American Indian life before it confronted the all-pervasiveness of white culture, big time.
October 23, 2025
Selected photo captions:
A LOAD OF FUEL-ZUNI
The Zuñi tribe, now numbering twenty-two hundred, has been concentrated in the present pueblo and its farming villages for nearly two and a half centuries, and in the same valley for hundreds of years before. Only a people as frugal as all the Pueblos in the use of fuel could still have an available supply in a region so poorly provided by nature.
PEYOTE DRUMMER
No Indian custom has been the subject of greater controversy or has led to the adoption of more laws and regulations with a view of abolishing it than the Peyote rite, largely because its effects have been misunderstood by white people.... The type of drum used is always the same—a small iron kettle partly filled with water and having a rawhide head. The beating of the drum is continuous throughout the rite, and its rhythmic vibration undoubtedly affects the emotions of the participants.
ÚWAT-COMANCHE
Ethnologically the Comanche do not furnish a fertile field of inquiry. The old men, when questioned as to the dearth of ceremonies, folktales, and legends such as ex-isted, for example, with the Wichita and neighboring tribes, made answer, "We were hunters and warriors, and had no time to think of such matters." All information gathered from them indicates that they were so active in warfare, so constantly on the move, that they had little time to give thought to the origin and purpose of their existence; in fact they seemingly took pride in not doing so.
TWO MOON-CHEYENNE
Two Moon was one of the Cheyenne war chiefs at the battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, when Custer's command was annihilated by a force of Sioux and Cheyenne.
A LOAD OF FUEL-ZUNI
The Zuñi tribe, now numbering twenty-two hundred, has been concentrated in the present pueblo and its farming villages for nearly two and a half centuries, and in the same valley for hundreds of years before. Only a people as frugal as all the Pueblos in the use of fuel could still have an available supply in a region so poorly provided by nature.
PEYOTE DRUMMER
No Indian custom has been the subject of greater controversy or has led to the adoption of more laws and regulations with a view of abolishing it than the Peyote rite, largely because its effects have been misunderstood by white people.... The type of drum used is always the same—a small iron kettle partly filled with water and having a rawhide head. The beating of the drum is continuous throughout the rite, and its rhythmic vibration undoubtedly affects the emotions of the participants.
ÚWAT-COMANCHE
Ethnologically the Comanche do not furnish a fertile field of inquiry. The old men, when questioned as to the dearth of ceremonies, folktales, and legends such as ex-isted, for example, with the Wichita and neighboring tribes, made answer, "We were hunters and warriors, and had no time to think of such matters." All information gathered from them indicates that they were so active in warfare, so constantly on the move, that they had little time to give thought to the origin and purpose of their existence; in fact they seemingly took pride in not doing so.
TWO MOON-CHEYENNE
Two Moon was one of the Cheyenne war chiefs at the battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, when Custer's command was annihilated by a force of Sioux and Cheyenne.
July 7, 2021
I did not read this closely since I just finished another Edward Curtis biography: Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis. I was more interested in seeing the day-to-day photos of Curtis as well as his portfolio of portraits of Native Americans. Amazing work!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews