This collection consists of 105 photographic images of Native American peoples throughout the U.S., primarily in Arizona and New Mexico. A number of the postcards and photographs were sent back and forth between non-Native family members who worked in Indian Boarding Schools in Fort Defiance, AZ, among other locations.
Scope and Contents:
The Arizona and New Mexico postcard and photograph collection consists of postcards, photographic prints, and stereographs, totaling 105 photographic items. Many of the postcards and photographs date to between the early 1900s and the late 1920s and were sent between non-Native family members who worked in Indian Boarding Schools, including those at Fort Defiance and Chinle in Arizona, Chilocco in Oklahoma, Haskell in Kansas, and Lac du Flambeau in Wisconsin.
These items have been organized into three series. Series 1: Postcards, 1908-1916, includes 79 postcards. Approximately 10 postcards contain images taken by the photographer Simeon Schwemberger of Diné (Navajo) people on the Navajo Reservation, and were sold out of his studio in St. Michaels, Arizona. Series 2: Photographs, 1896-1926, includes 18 photographs. Several of these include depictions of Native and non-Native peoples in Fort Defiance in Arizona, Haskell in Kansas, and Lac du Flambeau in Wisconsin. Series 3: Stereographs, 1865-1875, includes 8 stereographic images. These stereographs contain images taken by the photographer William Stinson Soule (Will Soule) of Kiowa-Apache, Niuam (Comanche), and Southern Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Cheyenne) men near Fort Sill in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), between approximately 1865 and 1875.
Please note that the language and terminology used in this collection reflects the context and culture of the time of its creation, and may include culturally sensitive information. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into three series. Series 1: Postcards, 1908-1916, Series 2: Photographs, 1896-1926, and Series 3: Stereographs, 1865-1875.
Biographical / Historical:
Photographer William Stinson Soule (Will Soule) lived and worked in the region of Fort Sill, in the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), in the 1860s and 1870s, regularly photographing U.S. Army personnel and Southern Plains Indian communities.
Simeon Schwemberger was a photographer originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, who settled near the St. Michaels mission church in Arizona in 1901. There he took many photographs of the Native communities of the region, later selling the images as postcards.
Provenance:
Gift from Jenene Garey in 2018 and 2021.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 3:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, 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. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Arizona and New Mexico postcard and photograph collection, NMAI.AC.127; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The stereographic images were taken by the photographer William Stinson Soule (Will Soule) of Kiowa-Apache, Niuam (Comanche), and Southern Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Cheyenne) men near Fort Sill in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), between approximately 1865 and 1875.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 3:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, 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. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Arizona and New Mexico postcard and photograph collection, NMAI.AC.127; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Stereographs
Scope and Contents:
The item is number W26347 of an unidentified series. The number H155 is stamped on the front of the photograph. Cheyenne Indians are sitting outside the fence around the gravesite.
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Stereographs
Scope and Contents:
Pictured on the bottom row, left to right, are Wild Hog, George Reynolds (interpreter), Old Man, and Blacksmith. On the back row are Tangled Hair, Left Hand, Crow, and Porcupine. The item is identical to number 184 of Photo Lot 90-1.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.09893200
Other Title:
"Cheyenne Indian prisoners at Dodge City, Kansas"
Place:
Kansas -- Dodge City
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Stereographs
Scope and Contents:
They are sitting in the tent.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.09898800
Other Title:
"Near Okmulkie, September 1875, Indian Territory"
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Scope and Contents:
Studio portrait.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.09902600
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.09903000
Other Title:
"Amargo. Cheyenne."
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Stereographs
Scope and Contents:
Studio portrait. The item is number 6 of the series Stereoscopic Views of the Yellowstone Country. The number 118(?) is etched in the negative.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.09950700
Other Title:
"Wolf Voice and a Cheyenne squaw"
Stereoscopic Views of Yellowstone Country
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Stereographs
Scope and Contents:
Studio portrait. The item is number 2 of the series Stereoscopic Views of the Yellowstone Country.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.09951300
Other Title:
Stereoscopic Views of Yellowstone Country
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Studio portrait. The man is unidentified. He is wearing European style clothing.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.09963300
Place:
South Dakota -- Pine Ridge Agency
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Studio portrait. He was living on the Pine Ridge Agency in South Dakota when this picture was taken. He is wearing a large cross and a European style coat.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.09964300
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Studio portrait. He was living in Bridgeport, Caddo County, Oklahoma when this picture was taken. He was born in 1841.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.09964400
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Taken in White House conservatory. Indians are shown with white interpreters. The stereograph is number 2734 in their "Washington City Views" series, President's Summer House, Washington. This view is a variant on a similar Anthony view that shows Mary Todd Lincoln standing with the delegation. Lincoln is not visible in this view.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.09821100
OPPS NEG.95-380
Other Title:
Washington City Views
President's Summer House
Place:
District of Columbia -- Washington
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
White House conservatory -- Cheyenne delegation Search this
Collection Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Stereographs
Scope and Contents:
Pictured on the bottom row, left to right, are Wild Hog, George Reynolds (interpreter), Old Man, and Blacksmith. On the back row are Tangled Hair, Left Hand, Crow, and Porcupine. The item is identical to number 724 of Photo Lot 90-1.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.09839300
OPPS NEG.92-270
Place:
Kansas -- Dodge City
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Stereographs
Scope and Contents:
The item is number 159-1 in the series Photographic Gems of the Great Northwest.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.09839700
Other Title:
Photographic Gems of the Great Northwest
Indian Series
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Stereographs
Scope and Contents:
The item is number 29 in the series Illustrations of Indian Life.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.09839800
Other Title:
Indian Territory Series
Illustrations of Indian Life
"A temporary camp while at the Grand Coucil, 1875. Interpreter standing, G.W. Ingalls holding papoose cradle to put in good humor the mothers who had been scolded by the photographer."
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Stereographs
Scope and Contents:
The item is unnumbered but is part of the series Photographic Gems of the Great Northwest.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.09851300
OPPS NEG.90-17238
Other Title:
Photographic Gems of the Great Northwest
"Cheyenne squaws dressing buffalo hides and softening buckskin"
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
