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Collections: Revisiting the North American Indian

Ever since Northwestern put its Edward S. Curtis photo collection, The North American Indian, online in 2004, interest in the 20-volume set has grown. However, not just historians and scholars have gravitated to the website: Descendents of Native Americans photographed by Curtis have been contacting the Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections for reproductions. “Edward Curtis has a picture of Two Bear Woman in Volume 6,” wrote Geri Show Fox in an e-mail to Special Collections. “She is my great-great grandmother, and we have no pictures of her.” Special Collections was happy to send her a digital file of the photo of her relative, a member of the Piegan Blackfeet. One of fewer than 250 sets produced, Northwestern’s edition of The North American Indian is printed on fine paper and leather-bound. Stop by Special Collections to see the collection or visit curtis.library.northwestern.edu.