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January 2002 Archives

January 30, 2002

The North American Indian: Photographic Images

Curtis Collection Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian: Photographic Images contains all 2,226 of the photogravure plates from The North American Indian (1907-1930), a set of 20 volumes and portfolios held in the Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections. Curtis portrayed the traditional customs and lifeways of over 80 Indian tribes. The volumes and accompanying portfolios are organized by tribes and culture areas encompassing the Great Plains, Great Basin, Plateau Region, Southwest, California, Pacific Northwest, and Alaska. Detailed indexing permits retrieval of the images by personal name, tribal affiliation, culture area, and subject. Northwestern University Library developed the digital resource with an award from the Library of Congress/Ameritech National Digital Library Competition, making the material accessible through the American Memory online collections.