The Clements Library website includes events, exhibits, subject guides, newsletter issues, library staff, and more.

Further Research Ideas & Resources

This section provides an incomplete list of further resources and research possibilities relating to the exhibit and the Richard Pohrt Jr. Collection of Native American Photography. It is organized into four sections:

Suggested Further Reading

Antoine, Asma-na-hi, Rachel Mason, Roberta Mason, Sophia Palahicky, and Carmen Rodriguez de France. Pulling Together: A Guide for Curriculum Developers. BC Campus, 2018.

Brown, Dee. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West. Open Road Media, 2012.

Elzi, Erin and Katherine M Crowe. “This is the Oppressor’s Language Yet I Need It to Talk to You: Native American Name Authorities at the University of Denver.” In Ethical Questions in Name Authority Control, edited by J. Sandburg.

Litwin Books & Library Juice Press. “Ethical Questions in Name Authority Control.” Accessed August 24, 2020. 

King, Lisa. Legible Sovereignties: Rhetoric, Representations, and Native American Museums. Oregon State University Press, 2017. 

Lonetree, Amy. Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums. University of North Carolina Press, 2012. 

University of Minnesota Press. “Native American DNA.” Book. Accessed August 24, 2020. 

Reese, Debbie. “Proceed with Caution: Using Native American Folktales in the Classroom.” Language Arts 84, no. 3 (January 2007): 245–56.

Shear, Sarah B., Ryan T. Knowles, Gregory J. Soden, and Antonio J. Castro. “Manifesting Destiny: Re/Presentations of Indigenous Peoples in K–12 U.S. History Standards.” Theory & Research in Social Education 43, no. 1 (January 2, 2015): 68–101.

Strathman, Nicole. “Student Snapshots: An Alternative Approach to the Visual History of American Indian Boarding Schools.” Humanities 4, no. 4 (October 26, 2015): 726–47. 

———. Through a Native Lens: American Indian Photography. University of Oklahoma Press, 2020.

Sturm, Circe. Becoming Indian: The Struggle Over Cherokee Identity in the Twenty-First Century. School for Advanced Research Press, 2011.

Tall Bear, Kim. Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science. N.p.: University of Minnesota Press, 2013.

Trachtenberg, Alan. Shades of Hiawatha: Staging Indians, Making Americans, 1880-1930. Macmillan, 2005.

Tuck, Eve, and K Wayne Yang. “Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor,” n.d., 40.

Wiggins, Jennifer. “Intellectual Property Rights: A Focus on Photography of Native Americans,” n.d., 7.

Suggested Lesson Guides

Navigating the Exhibit: The goal of this lesson is to facilitate classroom engagement with this online exhibit.

Cataloging: The goal of this lesson is to help students understand the acts of colonization perpetuated by Eurocentric library systems and to think through our collective responsibility to deconstruct it.

Mapping: The goal of this lesson is to provide a better understanding of the displacement of Anishinaabe peoples, as well as tropes of the time in Native photography, themes shown in images, and the basics of early photography.

Where are these towns now?: The goal of this lesson is to provide a better understanding of difficult local histories of Native Americans, specifically during the boarding school era at the end of the 1800s through the various movements of the 1900s. This history is often passed over in favor of more distant histories of Native Americans, a tendency related to relieving settler guilt.

Land Acknowledgements: The goal of this lesson is help people engage critically with the process of writing and giving land acknowledgements by providing guiding questions, ideas, and examples to scaffold the process.

Student Exhibits: The goal of this lesson is to introduce students to important key terms and concepts from Native American studies, with particular emphasis on Native American peoples of the Great Lakes region. Students will curate exhibits informed by these terms and concepts.

Structured Written Review: The goal of this lesson is to promote engagement with the online exhibit through student writing responses and critical analysis.

Native American Photography Source Analysis: The goal of this lesson is to familiarize students with the basic questions of source analysis and how to approach and utilize source material like photographs.

Further Research Ideas

Photos of Native American Women: This exhibit consists mainly of images of Native American men, with women and children being the minority. There are separate issues with photographing women that could be explored much further than this exhibit was able to properly discuss. Among them are the sexualizing of poses for the camera, presumptions about gender roles in Native America societies, and the preoccupation with warrior culture among white audiences. 

Grace Chandler Horn and other prominent photographers: Throughout this exhibit, a few photographers appear several times, such as Grace Chandler Horn, Joel E. Whitney, Fanny Hoyt, and John Choate. These photographers each have many more works under their names and lived unique lives represented within their photography. 

Photographic Journals: At the introduction of this exhibit, there are two excerpts taken from photographic journals. These journals are a fascinating primary source for information intersecting Native American life and early photography. 

Boarding School Letters: Within the Michigan Collection at the Clements library, there is a small collection of letters to and from boarding schools. In addition, at the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center online, there are letters to and from Anishinaabe students. 

United States Flag Use: Searching within the Pohrt collection in the UM Library catalog turns up several photographs of Native Americans with American flags, ranging from soldiers, powwows, and political campaigns. Flag images may also appear in beadwork and clothing. In Native American culture, these appearances carry deeper meanings than simple patriotism.

Buhkwunjjenene and other individuals: This exhibit references Buhkwujjenene and his fundraising trips to England. However, he lived an exciting life beyond these trips. Consider researching him, or other individuals mentioned with this exhibit such as Anpetu-tokeca or John Other Day, Ohiyesa or Dr. Charles Eastman, and Matȟó Nážiŋ or Luther Standing Bear.

Explore the Exhibit

Select any one of the following options to begin exploring the exhibit, or navigate with the Table of Contents to the left. The sections can be approached in any order.