National Anthropological Archives

Joseph C. Farber photographs of Native American life, circa 1970-1975

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.PhotoLot.78-1
Creators:
Farber, Joseph C., 1903-
Dates:
circa 1970-1975
Languages:
Undetermined
.
Physical Description:
6,000 Contact prints
circa 6000 contact prints (proof sheets)
6,000 Acetate negatives
circa
8 Color transparencies
1,000 Items
circa 1000 enlarged prints: silver gelatin (some mounted for exhibition)
Repository:

Scope and Contents note

Scope and Contents note
Photographs made as part of Joseph C. Farber's project to document modern NAtive American everyday life. Represented tribes include the Acoma, Apache, Blackfoot, Chehalis, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chippewa, Cocopa, Dakota, Eskimo, Haida, Kiowa, Kutenai, Lummi, Mohave, Mohawk, Navaho, Northern Athabascan, Onandaga, Pima, Pueblo, Quinalt, Seminole, Taos, Tlingit, and Zuni. Subject coverage is broad and varies from tribe to tribe. Included are portraits, as well as totem poles, carving, weaving, pottery, painitng, landscapes, boats and canoes, ceremonial regalia, camps, classes and vocational training, homes and traditional dwellings, construction projects, rodeos and powwows, dances, industries (including lumber), herding and ranching, agriculture, stores and storefronts, cliff dwellings, parades, crab cleaning, fishing, games, health care, legal processes, music, office work, sewing, vending, and a funeral. There are also photographs of R. C. Gorman (and a letter from Gorman to Farber) and Fritz Shoulder (some in color).
Farber's travels included Alaska (Point Barrow, Dead Horse, Glacier Bay, Haines, Hoona, Hydaberg, Ketchikan, Mount McKinley, Prudhoe Bay, Saxman, and Sitka); Alberta (Blackfeet Reservation); Arizona (Canyon de Chelly, Cocopa Reservation, Flagstaff, Kayenta, Monument Valley, Pima Reservation, Quechan Reservation, Mojave Reservation, and Yuma); California (Alcatraz, Oakland, and San Francisco); Florida (Big Cypress Reservation; Miccosukee Reservation); Minnesota (Minneapolis and Nett Lake); Montana (Northern Cheyenne Reservation); New Mexico (Acoma, Gallup, Navajo Forest, Picuris, Puye, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, Santa Fe, Taos, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, and Tesuque); New York (New York City and Onandaga Reservation); North Carolina (Cherokee Reservation); Oklahoma (Anadarko, Apache, Lawton, Stilwell, and Tahlequah); South Dakota (Rosebud and Wounded Knee); and Washington (Lummi Reservation, Nisqually River, Puyallup River, and Quinalt Reservation).

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
Joseph C. Farber (1903-1994) was a successful New York businessman and professional photographer. He studied with Edward Steichen at the New York Camera Club in the 1920s. The prints in this collection resulted from a five-year project that involved travelling to Native communities throughout the United States to document modern Native American life. The project resulted in a book, Native Americans: 500 Years After (1975), as well as exhibits, including one in the National Museum of Natural History in 1976-1977.

Administration

Author
Sarah Ganderup
Custodial History note
Some exhibition prints donated by Joseph C. Farber as part of the Natural History Museum's exhibit of his work, circa 1976. Rest of the collection donated by Farber's daughter, Joan Farber, after his death in 1994.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access note
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Conditions Governing Use note
Photographs published in Farber's books still under copyright. Reproduction permission from artist's estate.
Preferred Citation note
Photo Lot 78-1, Joseph C. Farber photographs of Native American life, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Location of Other Archival Materials

Location of Other Archival Materials
Farber's photographs, previously located in Photo Lot 95-3 have been relocated and merged with Photo Lot 78-1. These photographs were also made by Joseph C. Farber and form part of this collection.
Location of Other Archival Materials
The National Museum of American History Archives Center holds the Joseph Farber Papers and Photographs, circa 1962-1990.

More Information

Local Call Number(s)

Local Call Number(s)
NAA Photo Lot 78-1
,
NAA ACC 95-3

Bibliography

Bibliography
Photographs published in Joseph C. Farber, Native Americans: 500 Years After, New York: Crowell, 1975.

Other Finding Aids note

Other Finding Aids note
Partial inventory available in repository.

Addl. KW Subj

Addl. KW Subj
Pima (Akimel O'odham)
San Ildefonso
Blackfoot
Sioux
Seminole
Chippewa
Inuit
Alaskan Eskimo
Athapaskan, Athabaskan
Iroquois


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Arctic peoples Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
North Carolina Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New York Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New Mexico Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Montana Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pikuni Blackfeet (Piegan) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Onondaga Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
South Dakota Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oklahoma Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Taos Indians Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Quinault Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tlingit Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Akimel O'odham (Pima) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tewa Pueblos Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Anishinaabe (Chippewa/Ojibwa) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Diné (Navajo) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Eskimos Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sioux Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lummi Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Haida Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Plateau Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kootenai (Kutenai) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kiowa Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mojave (Mohave) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Miccosukee Seminole (Mikasuki) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Northwest Coast of North America Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dwellings Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vocational education Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Canoes and canoeing Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Boats and boating Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Northeast Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dance Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Powwows Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rodeos Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Building Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arizona Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
California Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Florida Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Minnesota Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
handicrafts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Totem poles Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Alaska Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Alberta Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Niitsitapii (Blackfoot/Blackfeet) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chehalis Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Apache Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Athapascan Indians Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cocopa Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Niuam (Comanche) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cherokee Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Southern states Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Cheyenne) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Washington (State) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Barrow, Point (Alaska) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Agriculture Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Livestock Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pueblo Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Acoma Pueblo Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Yuma County (Ariz.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Taos (N.M.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) -- Exhibitions. Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gorman, R. C. (Rudolph Carl), 1932-2005 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Museum of Natural History (U.S.). Department of Anthropology Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Anthropological Archives
Museum Support Center
4210 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, Maryland 20746
Business Number: Phone: 301.238.1300
Fax Number: Fax: 301.238.2883
naa@si.edu