Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
ca 1890
Scope and Contents:
From left to right: 1. Ben Looks Back (extreme left holding pole with feather) 2. Bull Don't Fall Down (behind man in feather bonnet holding club (?) next to face) 3. Edison Firebear (front, kneeling wearing army (?) hat 4. Firebear, father of Edison Firebear (wearing feather bonnet) 5. Mark Real Bird (boy next to Firebear) 6. Chief Plenty Coups (wearing bells on legs)
Biographical / Historical:
Firebear was the Indian policeman who killed Wraps Up His Tail or Twined Tail.
Local Numbers:
OPPS NEG.T2795
Local Note:
Cataloging based on examination of NAA file print.
Identification supplied by Barney Old Coyote (and Crow Indians), BIA, February 3, 1966.
Silver nitrate negative
Related Materials:
Related negatives in the Field Museum of Natural History, Photography Department, Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496
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 89-8, Willis G. Tilton collection of photographs of Native Americans, 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
The William Wildschut photograph collection contains 183 photographic negatives, and 89 post cards. From 1917 to 1928 William Wildschut studied the Apsáalooke people through interviews, photography, and the collection of cultural objects. In 1921 Wildschut was hired as a field man by George Gustav Heye the director of the Museum of the American Indian, Wildschut officially collected and conducted field expeditions in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Canada, and North Dakota on behalf of the Museum until 1928. Wildschuts photographs include portrait style photos of Apsáalooke people, special events, daily reservation life, interments, and encampments. Tribes represented in this collection are primarily Apsáalooke, the postcard collection consists of other tribes including Lakota, Arapaho, and other unidentified tribes.
Scope and Contents:
The William Wildschut collection contains 183 photographic negatives, and 21 photographic prints. The photographic negatives were made by Wildschut between 1917 and 1928. The majority of the photographs in this collection are of Apsáalooke people and their reservation, however the postcard collection consists of over 14 instances of people from unidentified tribes. Wildschut photographed Apsáalooke chiefs, leaders and their families in portrait style poses and his subjects are usually dressed in their finest. He also photographed events such as Crow fair, veteran celebrations, parades, ceremonies, and interments.
The Apsáalooke are a people of the northern plains, their ancestral territory is in Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota, where it joins the Missouri River. Today the Crow Indian Reservation in located in south-central Montana which covers roughly 2,300,000 acres of land and it is the fifth-largest Indian reservation in the United States. The Crow are known for their horsemanship, exquisite beadwork, clan system, historic war societies, 7th Calvary scouts, prolific chiefs, and beautiful homeland.
Series 1: Apsáalooke chiefs and leaders photographed in portrait style taken between 1917-1928. Wildschut captured images of many of the last Apsáalooke war chiefs who were, at the time, adjusting to a new life on the reservation. Many of the chiefs and leaders Wildschut photographed were dealing with new issues such as the Allotment Act, the Indian Citizenship Act, implementation of boarding schools, and government imposed regulations on traditional practices.
Series 2: Groups of Apsáalooke people in various situations. These photographs were taken at social events such as parades, dances, celebrations, and at the 45th annual Battle of the Little Big Horn.
Series 3: Apsáalooke people (individuals and families) in various situations. Some photographs are portrait style poses and others are casual instances. The Crow, who call themselves Apsáalooke or Biiluuke, are people of the Northern Plains. The Apsáalooke people continue to maintain their language and remain resilient in their cultural practices, they still identify themselves through a clan system, these clans are Ashshitchíte/the Big Lodge, Ashhilaalíoo/ Newly Made Lodge, Uuwatashe/ Greasy Mouth, Ashíiooshe/ Sore Lip, Xúhkaalaxche/ Ties the Bundle, Biliikóoshe/ Whistling Waters, Ashkápkawiia/ Bad War Deeds, and the Aashkamne/ Piegan clan.
Series 4: Photographs of the reenactment of the Battle of the Little Big Horn in Garryowen, MT in 1921. The Battle of the Little Bighorn was fought along the banks of the Little Bighorn River, in south central Montana on June 25-26, 1876. The 7th Regiment of the U.S. Cavalry engaged in armed combat with the Lakota, Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes. The site of the battlefield is located on the Crow Indian reservation which is where Wildschut photographed the re-enactment. This event involved actual survivors of the event and many other re-enactors.
Series 5: Casual photographs of non-ceremonial dances, parades, fairs, races and rodeos. The Apsáalooke enjoy a very social culture, they revel in coming together to sing, dance, and celebrate as often as possible. This is called baasaxpilúua (Celebration). Baasaxpilúua allows families and clans to reunite and solidify their bonds. One such occasion is the annual Crow Fair celebration that takes place on the Crow reservation, on the third week of August. The Crow parade is a stunning exhibition of beadwork adorning people, horses and various types of floats. The beadwork of the Crow people is among the most technically proficient and visually exquisite in the world.
Series 6: Encampments with tipis (ashtáale) and tents. Wildschuts photographs of encampments are on the Crow reservation, Fort Custer, and at the Billings fair (a fair that Crows would go to parade, dance, camp and watch races and rodeos). The Apsáalooke call the tipi ashtáale, which translates to real home. Wildschut was not allowed into the tipi to photograph, there is only one photographic instance where he took photographs of a family in a tipi [N31145] and [N31146].
Series 7: Restricted Photographs of interments, ceremonies, sacred spaces and objects). As an ethnographer William Wildschut spent time studying Crow culture. He interviewed Crow people and even witnessed ceremonial events. Wildschut developed relationships with certain Crows who allowed him the honor of being present when private sacred bundles where opened. In some cases Wildschut was allowed to photograph these sacred events. Not all Apsáalooke people agree with these permissions, however the Crow people understand that those who allowed Wildschuts presence did so for their own purposes. The Apsáalooke come from a living culture and still maintain their language, culture and beliefs. They have respectfully requested that these photographs not be made public.
Arrangement note:
This collection is arranged into eight series by people, events, locations and postcards.
Series 1: Apsáalooke Chiefs (Bacheeítche), Series 2: Apsáalooke Groupings, Series 3: Apsáalooke People, Series 4: 45th Annual Battle of the Little Big Horn, Series 5: Parades, Dances, and Events, Series 6: Encampments, Series 7: Restricted Content, Series 8: Postcards.
Biographical/Historical note:
William Wildschut was born Willem Wildschut on March 30, 1883, in Jisp, Holland. He married in 1909 in Leicester, England, and moved with his wife to Trier, Germany, where he was in charge of a cigarette factory. This began a long period during which Wildschut and his family moved frequently between Holland, Canada, and the western United States, usually while Wildschut was managing factories. In 1917 Wildschut moved his family to Billings, Montana where he worked in Farm Mortgages, this work took him to Hardin, Mt. (a small farming community 43 miles east of Billings), which borders the Crow Indian reservation and once served as an economic hub for the Apsáalooke people. William was fascinated with the Crow and began purchasing medicine bundles, war shirts, and various other items from the Crow which he found a market for with George Gustav Heye the founding Director of the Museum of the American Indian. In 1922, Heye purchased Wildschut's medicine bundle collection and hired him as a field man. From 1921 to 1928 Wildschut officially collected and conducted field expeditions in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Canada, and North Dakota on behalf of the Museum. Wildschut was also a collector of photographs. In the late 1920's he distributed a series of postcards that featured Native American people. These postcards featured his own photos as well as those of other photographers. During his employment with the Museum of the American Indian he was made a member of the Explorer's Club, and published several articles in the Museum's series "Indian Notes". On May 1, 1928, after the death of two of Heye's major benefactors, Wildschut was let go. In 1929 Wildschut and his family relocated to California where he worked for different mortgage companies. 1936 he was transferred to Oakland, California where he remained until his passing on January 7, 1955.
According to letters from him wife, William Wildschut was given a Crow name and was close friends with many Crow people. She also wrote that he believed it was his calling to do the work with Indians, however when he was released from employment with MAI he became distraught and never spoke of Indian people again. There are few stories about William Wildschut that remain in Crow Country, one is that his name was "Xaapaliiashilish" (Bundle Buyer) which is fitting considering he purchased and hundreds of sacred bundles from the Crow, which are now in Museums and Private Collections all over the world.
William Wildschut wrote several book manuscripts during his time with the Crow, three were later edited and published, these include: Crow Indian Beadwork (New York: Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation: 1959), Crow Indian Medicine Bundles (New York: Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation: 1960) and Two Leggings: The Making of a Crow Warrior which was published in 1967.
Related Materials:
Additional William Wildschut papers (WA MSS S-2386) are located at Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and The Yale Collection of Western Americana, New Haven, Connecticut.
The National Museum of the American Indian holds additional William Wildschut material such as letters, notes, receipts, and objects descriptions in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation records, 1890-1989. They can be found in Series 6: Collectors, Box 284, Folder 14 to Box 286, Folder 6.
Separated Materials:
Originally, a collection of Fred E. Miller photographs purchased by William Wildschut were marked as William Wildschut photographs and were included in this collection. They have since been identified by Dorothy Munson, curator of the Fred E. Miller Collection, in Housatonic, Massachusetts, and have been processed separately as the Fred E. Miller photograph collection.
Provenance:
The Wildschut photograph collection was purchased from William P. Wreden of Palo Alto, California, by Frederick Dockstader, director of the Museum of the American Indian, in 1964. Mrs. Wildschut had given the negative collection to Frederick Moore, a friend of the Wildschuts, for his personal collection. However, when Moore's bookselling business went bankrupt the Wildschut images ended up as part of the bankruptcy sale and were purchased by Wreden. Many of the postcards in this collection were taken years after Wildschuts death, these post cards were possibly added to the collection by Fredrick Moore or William P. Wreden.
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). Certain photographs have been restricted due to cultural sensitivity.
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.
Topic:
Crow Indians -- Social life and customs -- Photographs Search this
Crow Indians -- Montana -- Crow Indian Reservation -- Photographs Search this
Genre/Form:
Postcards
Negatives (photographic)
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); William Wildschut photograph collection, Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Prints
Date:
undated
Scope and Contents:
There are 6 prints of Crow Indians by F. A. Rinehart, Omaha, 1900, and photographic prints (11) of Chippewa (?) by Bell, Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, no date.
Catalog Number 4560: (1) Tribe: Crow Description: "Crow Girls." Three girls, one on horse. (Original number 1695). Photographer: F. A. Rinehart, Omaha Date: Copyright 1900. (2) Crow "Chief Spotted Horse. Crow." Standing with horse. (Original Number 1751). (3) Crow. "Mounted S[q]uaws. Crow." Group of five.. (Original Number 1782). F. A. Rinehart Copyright 1900. (4) Crow. "Mounted Squaws. Crow." [Probably by F. A. Rinehart] No date, 1900 ? (5) Crow. "Squaws Going to Dance. Crow." (Original Number 1772). F. A. Rinehart. Omaha Copyright 19[00 ?]. (6) Crow. Crow encampment showing four tipis; cooking fire-place with pot suspended from tripod (retouched- authentic ?). (Original Number 859.) F. A. Rinehart No date [1900 ?]. Following are apparently scenes from an outdoor production of Hiawatha, with native actors, as follows: (7) [Chippewa] "Deer Dance; big pow wow after the return of Hiawatha."--on back, in pencil Bell, Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. (8) [Chippewa] Group sitting on dance platform near tipi. (See 4560: (7). Bell, Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. (9) [Chippewa] Group at clearing looking into woods. Bell, Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. (10) [Chippewa] Man with woman seated on rocks in wooded area. (Hiawatha and Minnie Ha-Ha ?). Bell, Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. (11) [Chippewa] Man (same as in 13) with drum, and woman with ceremonial pipe. Bell, Sault Ste Marie, Michigan.
Catalog Number 4560 (12) Tribe: [Chippewa] Description: Young Woman (same as in 10). Photographer: Bell's Elite Studio, Soo , Michigan See BAE Negative Number 56,823. (13) [Chippewa] "Jim Wawgisie, an old Indian, takes part in Hiawatha." --on back in pencil Bell, Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. (14) [Chippewa] Old woman with baby on cradleboard; cooking fireplace in rear with pot suspended from tripod Bell, Sault Ste Marie, Michigan See BAE Negative Number 56,822. (15) [Chippewa] "Chiefs of 2 different tribes in one tent after peace is made." --on back in pencil. "Chiefs" outside of mat wigwam Bell, Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. (16) [Chippewa] Woman with baby on cradle board; in front of conical birchbark tipi. Bell, Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. (17) [Chippewa] Man with drum and pipe. [Probably by Bell]. Cf. "Hiawatha Played by Real Indians", by Henry Hale, Critic and Literary World, July, 1905. (Clipping filed with these photos.)
These negatives were originally cataloged as "Blackfoot" but it has since been determined that the photographs were shot among the Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) community. Further research has led to the likelihood that the negatives were made by Orlando Scott (O. S.) Goff around 1894. Goff, a prominent Western photographer in his time traveled between Forts Custer and Assiniboine in Montana during the late 1880s and 1890s. In 1894 Goff accompanied the 10th Cavalry, stationed at Fort Custer, on a camping trip that took them through the Crow Reservation.
The photographs in this subseries include images of Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) encampments and horses along the Bighorn river; portraits of Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) men, women and children including Chiefs Medicine Crow, Plenty Coups and Bell Rock; and a series of photographs at a dance outdoors, possibly a 4th of July celebration. There is also a photograph of an officer of the 10th cavalry, likely shot at Fort Custer.
Related Materials:
There are photographic prints in the Bud Lake and Randy Brewer Crow Indian Photograph Collection (Lot 035) at the Montana Historical Society that appear to have been made by O.S. Goff at the same time. These were part of a scrapbook labeled "taken on a camping trip of 10th Cav. from Ft. Custer, Montana, 1894-95," and kept by William Henry Hay.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 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); Joseph A. Imhof photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.142; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Place:
Montana -- Crow Agency
Scope and Contents:
The following identification was furnished by Mr Carpenter, a Crow Indian who visited the Bureau of American Ethnology. Left to right: 1- In Middle Ground Bear (Awa ku'an daxpitsec), 2- Black Tail (Isic' cipitac), 3- Stops (Aro'tsiac), 6- Daxpitse' hat's kac (Long Bear), 7- Wolf House (Iset Awasu'c), 8- Scratches His Face (Ak' icdu'kaxe), 9- Bad Man (Ba tse' kawic), 10- Big Sheep (I sax pu' ata tseisa'c), 11- Frolics (I tsi barax'cic), 12- Grandmother Knife (Isa k'anbitsic), 13- Plenty Hawks (Isa'x tsi se'a huc). Numbers 4 and 5 he could not identify.
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Scope and Contents:
The following identification was furnished by Mr Carpenter, a Crow Indian who visited the Bureau of American Ethnology. Left to right: Sees Pretty(Un'natsirit'sic) ?, Knows Horses (Itsin e' tsec), Nest Old (I tsi'ce xa'riac), Black Bird (Ba xi'ric), Knows Otto (Ba puxt'e' tsec), See Buffalo (Bi ce' ikac), Medicine Tail (Isi'c bax pac), Unclouded Bird (A bax unne', tendaka'kac), Packs Hat (Iku' patsic), Packs Arrows (Arut tsic), In Middle Ground Bear (Awa ku'an dax pitse'c), Long Bear (Dax pitse' hats kac), Black Tail (Isi'c cipita'c), Stops (Aro'tsiac).
