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Catalog Data

Maker:
Kasebier, Gertrude  Search this
Physical Description:
platinum print (overall production method/technique)
paper (overall material)
Measurements:
image: 15.8 cm x 11.5 cm; 6 1/4 in x 4 1/2 in
Object Name:
platinum print
Date made:
ca 1898
Description:
In addition to photographing the Sioux performers sent by Buffalo Bill Cody to her studio, Käsebier was able to arrange a portrait session with Zitkala Sa, "Red Bird," also known as Gertrude Simmons (1876-1938), a Yankton Sioux woman of Native American and white ancestry. She was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, like many of the Sioux traveling with the Wild West show. She was well educated at reservation schools, the Carlisle Indian School, Earlham College in Indiana, and the Boston Conservatory of Music. Zitkala Sa became an accomplished author, musician, composer, and dedicated worker for the reform of United States Indian policies.
Käsebier photographed Zitkala Sa in tribal dress and western clothing, clearly identifying the two worlds in which this woman lived and worked. In many of the images, Zitkala Sa holds her violin or a book, further indicating her interests. Käsebier experimented with backdrops, including a Victorian floral print, and photographic printing. She used the painterly gum-bichromate process for several of these images, adding increased texture and softer tones to the photographs.
Location:
Currently not on view
Subject:
Women  Search this
Native Americans  Search this
Related Publication:
Delaney, Michelle. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Warriors: A Photographic History by Gertrude Kasebier
Credit Line:
Mina Turner
ID Number:
PG.69.236.104
Accession number:
287543
Catalog number:
69.236.104
See more items in:
Work and Industry: Photographic History
Gertrude Kasebier
Photography
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a8-a95e-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_1006126