Native American School Picture

The picture I decided to analyse was of 10 Native American youngsters in a school picture, taken in 1880 by J. N. Choate. The image was taken from the site http://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/pictures/select-list-153.html.

There were a variety of 19th Century pictures of America available on the archives website, but I chose to pick this image of Native Americans as it stood out from the other pictures on the site. Instead of presenting the Native Americans as very primative and old-fashioned, this picture does otherwise. It captures the boys from the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania dressed smartly and looking healthy and well-groomed. This immediately warps the image that we have of the typical Native American, as we tend to imagine them as unkept and rough, as a result of their outdoor lifestyle.

The part of the photograph which draws my attention more than any other however, is the way the boys are dressed and their posture. These two things are very distinctive when we consider the stereotypical view of a Native American. We tend to associate the natives with extravagant clothing and a relaxed, natural stance/posture. This picture, however, captures them in smart, seemingly carefully designed shirts, trousers and jackets whilst obtaining a very rigid, upright posture. These componants would typically be considered 'European'. This suggests that even as early as 1880, the Europeans had began to influence the indigenous people even in ways as subtle as posture.

A deeper look into the hidden representations of the picture reveals a great deal to us as well. Firstly, it is evident that at least four of the boys are looking away from the camera, suggesting that they aren't used to being photographed; in turn showing how this in fact wasn't a usual occurance and this sort of practice wasn't a typical scenario for Native American boys. On the other hand, the fact that every boy has short hair suggests that their aparent distinction from the typical depiction of Native Americans is genuine. Long hair is seen as something very Native American, so their short hair could suggest that the European influence on these people was becoming substantial.

In his book 'Letters from an American Farmer', De Crevecoeur notably refers to the natives as 'savage'. This illustration has been very common since the European settlement in the US, but pictures like the one I have analysed strongly suggest that the indigenous people were far from savage; adopting some of the same customs and formats as the European settlers themselves.