Native Nations: First North Americans as Seen by Edward Curtis [Hardcover]

Edward S. Curtis (Author), Christopher Cardozo (Contributor), George P. Horse Capture (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 19, 1993

At the turn of the century, Curtis set out to photograph and document the tribal traditions of North American Indians--an enterprise that became a 25-year obsession. This collection of 125 of Curtis' finest photographs brilliantly capture tribal customs, costumes, and faces.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This stunning collection selects 110 striking photographs taken by Curtis (1868-1952) in his nearly 30-year effort, begun at the turn of the century, to create what Cardozo, a Curtis specialist and photograph dealer, calls "an irreplaceable photographic and ethnographic record" of Native Americans. The photographs, reproduced using a new printing technology, are arresting. Portraits like those of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce and of a Mohave woman potter show the dignity and endurance of these Americans. Landscape pictures of tepees in winter or a canoe-with-hunter suggest the shadings of a charcoal master and demonstrate Curtis's artistry. The photographs also range over pottery, masked dancers and various ritual objects and are accompanied by Curtis's detailed, stately captions. Some Native Americans have criticized Curtis for stereotypical, stylized images, notes former museum curator Horse Capture, but to him, they are images of beauty, power and pride. Indeed, the portrait of Horse Capture's great-grandfather is another moving epitaph for a lost world.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Although all the photographs in this study have been collected elsewhere, never have the reproductions been of the quality evidenced here. Richard Benson, researcher extraordinaire in print technique, has developed a new method called stochastic screening that produces images with an amazing tonal range and ultrafine resolution. It is a benchmark against which all future photographic reproductions will be measured. As there is limited opportunity to view Curtis's rare 20-volume masterwork, The North American Indian , this book offers an excellent alternative, with images that have the richness of the original photogravures. This purchase is recommended for both its beauty and the uniqueness of its technological innovation.
- Kathy J. Anderson , Indiana Ctr. for Global Business, Indiana Univ., Bloomington
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Bulfinch; 1st edition (October 19, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821220527
• ISBN-13: 978-0821220528
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #298,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Native Nations - outstanding technical quality, November 5, 2000

By 

Alvin W. Schillinger (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Native Nations: First North Americans as Seen by Edward Curtis (Hardcover)

Regardless of your personal feelings about Edward Curtis as a photographer of native Americans, the quality of his photography is superb and the reproductions in this compilation are outstanding. Instead of using the conventional halftone printing technique, the publisher used the digital Agfa CristalRaster(TM) technology which produces reproductions of exceptional clarity and sharpness. This volume is far superior, technically, to the recently released compilation entitled "Sacred Legacy" by the same authors and if you only want one book for your library "Native Nations" is the one.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Native Nations: First Americans As Seen by Edward Curtis, January 23, 2000

By 

Jacqueline Allen (New Canaan, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Native Nations: First North Americans as Seen by Edward Curtis (Hardcover)

I had an opportunity to learn of this book through a documentary film which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Director Anne Makepeace tells the incredible story of how Edward Curtis devoted his life's work to writing and producing photographs for 20 volumes on 88 American Indian tribes. I expect that few anthropological studies of this scope and depth exist. His respect and deep knowledge of the Indian culture comes through clearly. He went largely unrecognized during his life time-a Van Gogh-like figure. His work is a must for any serious student of anthropology or history.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pleasure to behold!, January 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Native Nations: First North Americans as Seen by Edward Curtis (Hardcover)

What a beautiful book this is! Everyone that looks at it has trouble putting it down. Sure, some of the politically correct will say that Curtis exploited the Native American and that scenes at times appear posed-I hate to tell you this but that was the ways things were at the time-period. Just the fact that Curtis traveled to these places at that point in history is a marvel. His images are magical at times and I thank him for his artistry. I am sure that the people in his portraits were willing participants and have gained an immortality of sorts with the beauty of his work. Enjoy this book for what it is-not what you think it should have been.