The North American Indian is a photographic and ethnographic record of Native American communities in the early 20th century. Created during a period of rapid societal change and assimilation policies targeting Indigenous communities, Curtis’s work focused on documenting the traditions and customs of over 80 Indigenous communities in North America. Funded in part by J.P. Morgan and supported by President Roosevelt, the project represented a significant combination of photography, anthropology, and documentation.
Inspired by the perceived "vanishing" of Native American cultures under colonial pressures, Curtis undertook a 30-year journey involving extensive travel across North America. His tireless efforts produced over 40,000 photographs, 10,000 recordings of songs, and documentation of numerous languages and oral histories to preserve and honor Indigenous traditions. The resulting 20 volumes feature 2,200 photogravures and extensive narrative text, reflecting detailed field documentation.
Curtis’s artistic vision centered on themes of resilience, spirituality, and the interconnection between Indigenous peoples and their environments. To achieve this, he blended documentary intent with staged elements, such as arranging traditional clothing and choreographing scenes, to evoke timeless narratives emphasizing cultural identity. He captured these narratives using large-format cameras to produce sepia-toned photographs later reproduced as photogravures, with tonal gradations that emphasized light and shadow. His portraits, often capturing subjects in traditional regalia or engaged in rituals, are renowned for their aesthetic and technical sophistication. By utilizing light and shadow with great care, Curtis highlighted the dignity and individuality of his subjects, creating iconic representations that have significantly influenced public perceptions of Native Americans.
Reception was mixed at publication—praised for ambition and craft, questioned for staged elements—but later reassessments emphasize both its ethnographic value and its representational limits. Early recognition included Homeward (1898)—a pictorialist sunset scene of paddlers—which won a grand prize and gold medal at a National Photographic Society show and first prize at the 1900 National Photographic Convention. Curtis then promoted the project through high-profile presentations, including an exhibition at the Waldorf-Astoria, a display at the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, and the 1911 Carnegie Hall "musicale," The Story of a Vanishing Race. A related feature film—In the Land of the Head-Hunters (1914), restored as In the Land of the War Canoes (1973)—further extended its reach.
