Early Native Tribes were honored through imagery when they were under threat of extinction. Although tribes were historically vast in numbers and spread across North America, a few photographers and artists at the turn of the 20th century set out to record their widely diverse cultures. More recently, a mixed-blood Cherokee has been mapping the precise names and locations of Early Native Tribes from 1490 to present day.
While North America’s Indigenous People varied widely in customs and social structures, most shared essential moral principles that guide their people to this day. As we consider the dual holiday of Thanksgiving and Mourning, we’re grateful for these images and maps of Early Native Tribes.
Self-taught Cartographer Traces Pre-Columbian Tribal Nations
Since childhood, Aaron Carapella has been passionate about discovering the true history of Early Native Tribes. Today he owns Tribal Nations Maps, a company devoted to representing all historical Indigenous Nations across the Western Hemisphere before Europeans arrived.
In addition to finding locations of various nations, Carapella has worked tirelessly to determine their traditional Tribal names.
These are no easy tasks.
According to the National Park Service, archeological and genetic evidence indicate that the earliest ancestors in North America “have been here at least 23,000 years and as long as 30,000 years, underscoring American Indians’ oral history that their ancestors lived on these lands from time immemorial.” (NPS)
It’s also difficult to calculate precisely how many Indigenous people lived in Northern America in more recent pre-Columbian history. Most estimates range from 2.5 million to 7 million people, with some studies counting 100 million or more.
By 1800, the numbers of early native tribes and their members dropped to an estimated 600,000. In 1830, Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. According to the 1860 census, the number declined to approximately 340,000 as the result of disease and conflict with European settlers. (National Archives)
Aaron Carapella, a Cherokee Indian, write that his work isn’t a simple matter of determining addresses, even in this age of GPS. Centuries of forced relocation, disease and genocide have made it difficult to find where many Native American tribes once lived.
Undaunted by the overwhelming difficulties of the task, Carapella spent thousands of hours pinpointing the locations and original names of hundreds of Early Native Tribes.
Despite the enormity of his task, he has produced several remarkable maps of the contiguous United States that display the original native names of roughly 595 tribes. Of those, 150 tribes have no descendants, hence they are believed to be extinct.
Monica Brown writes for Tulalip News:
“On the map there are approximately 175 merged tribes, listed among the 595. The map displays what others fall short of, to make known the significant fact that is overlooked every day and that is, that tribes inhabited the entire U.S. and not just small portions of it.” (Tulalip News)
You can view and purchase these Aaron Carapello’s extraordinary maps at his website.
Disappearing Indigenous Cultures Alarmed Artists
By the 1880s, more than a century before Aaron Carapella created his maps, most indigenous people had been confined to reservations. Fearing these cultures could be lost forever, several photographers and painters set out to document Early Native Tribes.
Edward Curtis Celebrated Native American Cultures
The 1890 census recorded the Native American population at less than 225,000, down from many millions prior to settlers arriving in 1492.
Edward Curtis commenced a daunting project in 1896. His dream was to document the culture and lifestyle of early Native tribes before it was too late. His fantastically ambitious 20-volume undertaking called The North American Indian took nearly thirty years to complete.
With many tribes disappearing, Edward Curtis’s mission was:
“…to form a comprehensive and permanent record of all the important tribes of the United States and Alaska that still retain to a considerable degree their…customs and traditions.”
To that end, he visited more than eighty tribes across America, Alaska and parts of Canada. His milestone work included more than 40,000 photographs; and 10,000 recordings of Native speech and music. (LOC)
See more of Edward Curtis’ Early Native Tribes photos here.
Richard Throssel Honored Crow Heritage
Richard Throssel (1882-1933) took approximately 1,000 photos of Early Native Tribes, many of whom were Crow. Although he was a quarter Cree, he was adopted in 1906 into the Crow Tribe. Known for their superb craftsmanship and artistic expression in everyday items from clothing to construction of tipis, they were excellent subjects for his burgeoning photographic skills.
Throssel’s work blossomed when Edward Sheriff Curtis came to his reservation to photograph the Crow people for his 20-volume work. By 1907, Curtis’s technical and aesthetic influences were evident in Throssel’s work. With his unique connection to the Crow, he captured their life and culture with respect and intimacy.
According to the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming:
“…as white settlement encroached upon their land, protecting their homeland against invaders became a constant struggle. The Crow became renowned for their military skills and courage, adapting their traditional warfare tactics to defend their land and survival.” (AHC)
Unlike many other early native tribes, the Crow agreed to cooperate with the United States government in order to survive. Predicting the extermination of the buffalo and the inevitable grazing of cattle on their lands, they became scouts in battles against their enemies, the Sioux and Cheyenne.
Walter McClintock Traveled West To Photograph Rich Heritage
In 1896, Yale graduate Walter McClintock traveled west as a photographer a federal commission organized to investigate national forests. After the completion of the forest job, the Blackfoot Indian scout, Siksikakoan a.k.a. William Jackason, escorted McClintock into the Blackfoot Community of northwestern Montana.
Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library writes:
“Over the next twenty years, supported by the Blackfoot elder Mad Wolf, McClintock made several thousand photographs of the Blackfoot, their homelands, their material culture, and their ceremonies.” (Beinecke )
Like Edward Curtis and many others of his time, McClintock knew that Indian communities were in danger of extinction as a result of aggressive government policies and relentless westward expansion.
“He sought to create a record of a life-way that might disappear. He wrote books, mounted photographic exhibitions, and delivered numerous public lectures about the Blackfoot.”(Beinecke )
They were feared warriors who controlled the hunting grounds over a vast expanse of the Montana prairie. By 1888 they were forced to sign agreements that gave them their present reservation lands.
See more of Mclintock’s Early Native Tribes photos here.
George Catlin Aimed To Paint Tribes Before They Vanished
George Catlin (1796-1872) was trained as a lawyer, became an artist, adventurer, author, inventor, and showman. Beginning in 1832, he made five trips across American and traveled more than 1800 miles on the Missouri River from St. Louis to paint Early Native Tribes.
Catlin aimed to paint all the Indian tribes of North America to preserve the looks and customs of the vanishing race of native man in America.
His fear was well founded. By the end of the 1800s, the bison were driven nearly to and the indigenous cultures of the Plains decimated as a result of US government policies and rapid Westward expansion of European settlers.
According to the Museum of Art and Design Miami Dade College, Catlin visited more than 140 tribes and painted hundreds of portraits and scenes of Early Native Tribes.
“He reproduced about 300 of his images as engravings in 1841 in the two volumes of Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians, along with accounts of his travels and observations. In 1844, he published a smaller selection of twenty-five images as lithographs in Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio, with twenty pages of accompanying text.” (moadmdc)
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