Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
Spring 2011
Citation
Great Plains Quarterly 31:2 (Spring 2011).
Abstract
Many Indians in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century commodified aspects of their cultures in order to make a living and sometimes present their identities, history, and artworks in ways that were satisfying to them. Ten vintage postcards from the Oklahoma Historical Society by Kiowa photographer Horace Poolaw (1906-1984) indicate that he recognized popular tastes for Plains Indian male imagery while both participating in that production and working independently of it. Poolaw printed some of his photographs on postcard stock to sell at local fairs in the early to mid twentieth century. In order for the postcards to appeal to the greatest number of consumers, he had to compose his images and select subject matter that fit into common visual assumptions and expectations of Indian identity, such as the "chief."
Comments
Copyright © 2011 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska.