Short Nights Of The Shadow Catcher

The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis

Timothy Egan

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780544102767
• eBook ISBN: 9780547840604
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Artist Biographies

A New York Times Notable Book
A Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction

New York Times bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Timothy Egan reveals the life story of the man determined to preserve a people and culture in Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis.

“A vivid exploration of one man's lifelong obsession with an idea . . . Egan’s spirited biography might just bring [Curtis] the recognition that eluded him in life.” ​— ​The Washington Post

Edward Curtis was charismatic, handsome, a passionate mountaineer, and a famous portrait photographer, the Annie Leibovitz of his time. He moved in rarefied circles, a friend to presidents, vaudeville stars, leading thinkers. But when he was thirty-two years old, in 1900, he gave it all up to pursue his Great Idea: to capture on film the continent’s original inhabitants before the old ways disappeared.

Curtis spent the next three decades documenting the stories and rituals of more than eighty North American tribes. It took tremendous perseverance  ​— ​ ten years alone to persuade the Hopi to allow him to observe their Snake Dance ceremony. And the undertaking changed him profoundly, from detached observer to outraged advocate. Curtis would amass more than 40,000 photographs and 10,000 audio recordings, and he is credited with making the first narrative documentary film. In the process, the charming rogue with the grade school education created the most definitive archive of the American Indian.

Index

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Page references in italics refer to photographs.

A

Acoma fortress/people

Anasazi and, 91

Curtis and, 91, 92, 104, 160

description, 91, 92, 229

Spanish and, 91–92

Act of Obedience and Homage (Spanish), 91

Adams, Henry, 112

“alarm clock” in photo, 197

Alaska/Curtis project (1927)

Beth (daughter) and, 275, 276, 279–83, 288

description of people, 280–83, 296–97

“filthiest human beings,” 283, 297

finances for, 275

Harry the Fish (skipper), 280–82, 283–85, 286–87

Jewel Guard (boat), 280–82, 283–85, 286

lost-at-sea reports, 286, 287

missionaries and, 282, 285–86

Nunivak Island, 280–83

Alaska gold rush, 30–31

Alaska scientific exploration (1899)

goals, 34

provisions/people, 34–35

See also specific individuals; Tlingit people/Alaska expedition

Alaska scientific exploration/Curtis (1899)

audio recording device and, 35

iceberg incident, 36

photos, 36

proposal, 34

Tlingit and, 37

Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909), 195

Alberta natives, 270

Alchise (Apache) portrait, 127, 148

alcohol effects on Indians, 203

Algonquin language, 113

Ament, Delores Tarzan, 320

American Anthropologist, 87

American bison

Blackfeet and, 42, 50–51

Cody and, 107

conservation efforts, 33–34, 43

decimation, 33–34, 48, 50–51

Grinn...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Contents
• Frontispiece
• Copyright
• Epigraph
• Dedication
• First Picture 1896
• Encounter on a Volcano 1898
• The Big Idea 1900
• Indian Napoleon 1903
• With the President 1904
• In the Den of the Titan 1906
• Anglos in Indian Country 1906
• The Artist and His Audience 1907
• The Custer Conundrum 1907–1908
• The Most Remarkable Man 1908–1909
• On the River of the West 1910
• New Art Forms 1910–1913
• Moving Pictures 1913–1915
• Lost Days 1916–1922
• Second Wind 1922–1927
• The Longest Days 1927
• Fight to the Finish 1927–1932
• Twilight 1932–1952
• Epilogue: Revival
• Acknowledgments
• Sources
• Photo Credits
• Index
• Read More from Timothy Egan
• About the Author
• Connect with HMH