Photographs shot by William A. Newcombe during three collecting trips to British Columbia with George Gustav Heye, director of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. Between 1934 and 1938 Newcombe and Heye collected and photographed among the collecting ethnographic materials from the Saanich, Esquimalt, Cowichan, Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl), Snuneymuxw (Nanaimo), and Nuxalk (Bellacoola) communities.
Scope and Contents:
This collection includes photographic prints, mostly silver gelatin prints shot between 1934 and 1938 by William Newcombe during his collecting trips in British Columbia with George Heye on behalf of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. It is possible that George Heye shot some of the photographs himself. This collection has been arranged into three series based on trip date. Series 1 includes photographs shot among Coast Salish communities in August of 1934 on the East Saanich Reserve (Tsawout First Nation) and Esquimalt (Salish/Songhees) Reserve on Cormorant and Vancouver Islands, British Columbia. These photographs include images of canoes and house posts that are now part of the NMAI collection. (P11371 - P11386, P11412, N36649 - N36653)
Series 2 includes photographs shot in the summer of 1935 in the Cowichan Valley Regional District on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Images include portraits of Louis and Jennie George (Cowichan) alongside George Gustav Heye. (P11516 - P11526, N36657 - N36659 ; N36666 - N36667. Series 3 includes photographs shot in the summer of 1938 at various locations on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Communities photographed include Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl), Saanich, Snuneymuxw (Nanaimo), and Nuxalk (Bellacoola). George Heye can be seen in several images holding objects that are now part of the NMAI collection. Heye was also accompanied by Thomas Philip Oxenham Menzies, curator of the Vancouver City Museum, for part of the trip. There are also images of the James Dunsmuir Esate in Hatley Park. (P13423 - P13430, P13648 - P13656, N36880 - N36889.
The copy negatives were made from the prints at some point in the 1960s during a large photographic conservation project at the museum.
Arrangement:
Arranged into three series by trip date, Series 1: East Saanich Reserve (Tsawout First Nation) and Esquimalt (Salish/Songhees) Reserve, 1934; Series 2: Cowichan Valley Regional District, 1935; and Series 3: Vancouver Island, 1938.
Biographical / Historical:
William A. Newcombe (1884-1960) worked with George Gustav Heye, director of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye foundation over the course of several trips to British Columbia in the 1930s. William, son of Charles Frederick Newcombe, became an authority on the ethnology of British Columbia's native peoples. Newcombe and Heye went on at least three trips to British Columbia in 1934, 1935 and 1938, collecting ethnographic materials from the Saanich, Esquimalt, Cowichan, Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl), Snuneymuxw (Nanaimo), and Nuxalk (Bellacoola) communities.
Provenance:
These field photographs accompanied the ethnographic materials collected by William Newcombe and George Gustav Heye in 1934, 1935 and 1938.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu). Photographs with culturally sensitive subjects are restricted.
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); William A. Newcombe and George Gustav Heye photographs from British Columbia, Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
