Photographers and Their Subjects on the Southern Northwest Coast: Motivations and Responses

This paper describes several different types of photographs taken of Native Americans in western Washington and British Columbia, discussing the motivations of the photographers, the responses of their subjects and the uses to which the photographs were put. The earliest images can be dated to 1855-1865, although few of these survive today. By the turn of the century, there was a virtual explosion of visual documents, with both amateur and professional photographers seeking out the Indian for both commercial and ethnographic reasons. In the early part of the twentieth century, Native Americans began taking their own photographs and also using photographs in their own cultural activities. Our interpretation and understanding of these historical images should take into account the processes of interaction as well as the eventual utilization of the photographs.