Representing and Misrepresenting Native Americans in Archival Collections

The bulk of historical materials contained in Native American archival collections were not created by Native peoples. Perhaps this is obvious. Historic photographs, anthropological field-notes, ethnological films – these materials were by and large created by non-Native Americans, and thus preserve a non-Native rather than a Native voice. While not necessarily nefarious or ill-intentioned on the part of the creator(s), such representations or misrepresentations prove themselves to be not only inaccurate but also ever-present in the historical record.

 

Indianer, German Advertising Trade Cards collection, NMAI.AC.288, 288_001_001_005

Indianer, German Advertising Trade Cards collection, NMAI.AC.288, 288_001_001_005

These representations include stereotypes of the “noble savage” or “vanishing Indian” variety, which romanticize a fictionalized portrayal of Native American cultures. What these images reveal are how non-Native peoples chose to represent or misrepresent the lives, cultures, and histories of the Native peoples of the Americas. In other words, these nineteenth- and twentieth-century portrayals reveal not only how non-Native communities viewed indigenous peoples, but also how non-Native peoples viewed themselves and their colonial past.

Straight Arrow “Injun-uity” Manual, Douglas E. Evelyn photograph and ephemera collection, NMAI.AC.226, 226_pht_001_001
 

This argument about how non-Indians have imagined, represented, and appropriated Indian identity is hardly new. Native and non-Native scholars have written about the subject for years, with a few of the better known works including Robert Berkhofer’s The White Man’s Indian, Philip Deloria’s Playing Indian, and Shari Huhndorf’s Going Native. In fact, the recent AMERICANS exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) delves into similar ground of American Indian identity and its pervasiveness within the context of broader American pop culture and history.

Straight Arrow “Injun-uity” Index,
Douglas E. Evelyn photograph and ephemera collection, NMAI.AC.226, 226_pht_001_002

Among the NMAI Archive Center collections, a few more recent acquisitions which portray these romanticized images are the Dale Jenkins postcard and photograph collection, the Douglas E. Evelyn photograph and ephemera collection, and the German Advertising Trade Cards collection. A shared theme in these collections is the use of romanticized portrayals of Native Americans in order to sell products as diverse as NABISCO Shredded Wheat throughout the United States, or to market condensed milk, chocolate, and pralines in Germany and across Europe.

Kriegführung Bei Wilden Völkern,
German Advertising Trade Cards collection, NMAI.AC.288, 288_001_002_001

Kriegführung Bei Wilden Völkern (verso),
German Advertising Trade Cards collection, NMAI.AC.288, 288_001_002_001v

Reshaping the image of Native Americans was not relegated solely to anthropologists or marketing firms, however. Along similar lines are also representations of Native American school children required to attend government boarding schools. Through coerced assimilation and forced abandonment of Native cultures and languages, the U.S. federal government attempted to reshape the appearance and mind-set of American Indian children. Such images and misrepresentations, while problematic to say the least, are also important in showing how non-Native peoples romanticized, mythologized, and attempted to reshape Native peoples.

Entrance to Indian Training School, Chemawa, near Salem, Oregon, Dale Jenkins postcard and photograph collection, NMAI.AC.069, 069_pht_001_002

Girl Basket-Ball Squad, U.S. Indian School, Chilocco, Oklahoma. Seven tribes represented, Dale Jenkins postcard and photograph collection, NMAI.AC.069, 069_pht_002_005

Indian School, Parade Grounds and Buildings, Carlisle, PA, Dale Jenkins postcard and photograph collection, NMAI.AC.069, 069_pht_001_003

Fortunately, since becoming part of the Smithsonian Institution in 1989, the NMAI Archive Center has actively sought to acquire, preserve, and make accessible archival materials created by Native peoples which represent contemporary Native voices. With the addition of records documenting the lives and works of Native American artists, writers, activists, and organizations, the NMAI is seeking to both complement and balance these earlier representations and misrepresentations of the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere.

Nathan Sowry, Reference Archivist
National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center