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We post research, insights, and stories about Edward Curtis and The North American Indian, as well as perspectives on North American American and Indigenous life today. Our blogs are written by Guest Writers, for more information on them please visit HERE. If you're interested in writing a post for our blog, please read our blog post guidelines for further information.

Tim Greyhavens

Curtis Colleagues: George Bird Grinnell

George Bird Grinnell stands out as a seminal figure who helped shape the concept behind The North American Indian.

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Shawnee Real Bird

Carrying Dreams Into Reality

Using modern tools and ancestral techniques, Yellow Hair Woman painted her dreams into reality during the spring of 2024.

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Herman Cohen Stuart

Tronies: A Surprising Link Between Edward S. Curtis and the Art of Painting

Some of Curtis's portraits bear a resemblance to "tronies," which were 17th-century paintings by artists such as Rembrandt and Rubens.

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Shadow Catcher - Reunion with My Apsáalooke Ancestors

Shawnee Real Bird

Shadow Catcher - Reunion with My Apsáalooke Ancestors

I realize this is Timber Leader's very first time seeing an image of his uncle and grandfather; they breathe life into him.

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Chief John Spotted Tail: "Legacy Returned" and The Tale of Two Families

Tamara Stands and Looks Back - Spotted Tail

Chief John Spotted Tail: "Legacy Returned" and The Tale of Two Families

Chief John Spotted Tail exudes strength and dignity, adorned in traditional regalia including a warrior shirt and headdress.

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Tim Greyhavens

New Book about The North American Indian is Filled with Data and Facts

Since the rediscovery of Edward Curtis's work in the 1970s, scholars, collectors, and others have published at least 65 English-language...

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Coleen Graybill

South Dakota Sun Dance & Red Hawk Descendant

Meet Vanessa Red Hawk, descendant of Chief Red Hawk photographed by E.S. Curtis in "An Oasis In The Bad Lands."

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Tim Greyhavens

Curtis Colleagues: Alexander Upshaw

A look at the life of Alexander Upshaw, a Crow Native who survived the Indian Boarding School ordeal and worked as a translator for Curtis.

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Tim Greyhavens

Curtis Colleagues: William E. Myers

A brief biography of William E. Myers (1877-1949), Curtis's primary assistant on The North American Indian project.

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Tim Greyhavens

Three Take-Aways from the Recent Curtis Mega-Auctions

Our perspective on two huge auctions of Curtis prints, books, documents, and ephemera that took place at the end of June 2021.

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Janet Steins

Reprint Editions and Other Important Reproductions of The North American Indian

Some thirty years after the final volume of Edward Curtis's The North American Indian appeared, knowledge of and interest in Edward...

1,386 views

Tim Greyhavens

A Brief History of Curtis Orotones, Part 2

This is the second in a two-part series about the Curtis orotones. For part 1, click here. The orotones of Edward S. Curtis are...

1,673 views