National Museum of the American Indian

Arthur R. Sanger photographs from the California Channel Islands

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAI.AC.001.056
Creators:
Sanger, Arthur R.
Dates:
1920-1926
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
16 Photographic prints
Repository:
Photographs by Arthur R. Sanger from excavations on the Channel Islands, California, around 1926.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The collection contains 16 photographic prints shot by Arthur R. Sanger on the San Nicholas, San Miguel, and Santa Rosa Islands in Southern California. The majority of these photographs contain images of human remains and are therefore restricted due to cultural sensitivity. The photographs are undated, but likely accompanied Sanger's first collection sold to the Museum of the American Indian in 1926, so were likely shot sometime before that date. In addition to photographs of the excavation of burials, there are a handful of landscape shots of the islands themselves.
Scope and Contents
P07766 - P07781.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Arranged by catalog number.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Arthur Randall Sanger (1880-1971) was born in Palmer, Massachusetts, but later moved to California where he spent the rest of his life. Sanger was a founder of the Catalina Island Yacht Club and owner of the yacht Dreamer which he used to access the California Channel Islands where he excavated an untold number of Native burials. He also claimed to have excavated stone pipes and effigies from various island sites. Sanger maintained a long term relationship with George Gustav Heye and the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation selling multiple collections of these excavated California materials to the Museum between the years of 1926 and 1951. It was later discovered that Sanger, along with Orville T. Littleton, knowingly sold many fraudulent materials to the museum, as well as to other institutions and private collectors. It is believed by several scholars that Sanger made many of the effigies himself. For more information about the controversy see;
Lee, Georgia. Fake Effigies from the Southern California Coast? Robert Heizer and the Effigy Controversy in Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 15(2): 195-215, 1993
Koerper, Henry C. and and Paul G. Chace. Heizer, Strandt, and the Effigy Controversy in Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 17(2):280-284, 1995
Koerper, Henry C., and Sherri Gust. Additional Revelations Concerning Arthur Sanger and Archaeological Fakery in Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly
Koerper, Henry C. More on Arthur Sanger's Skullduggeries in Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly. Volume 52, Number 2. 2016

Administration

Author
Rachel Menyuk
Processing Information
Processed by Rachel Menyuk, Processing Archivist, in 2019.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Sold to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation by Arthur R. Sanger along with field collections in 1926.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu). Photographs with burials, human remains or any other cultural sensitivity are restricted.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Arthur R. Sanger photographs from the California Channel Islands, Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Channel Islands (Calif.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Excavations (Archaeology) -- California Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Archeology -- frauds Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Physical anthropology -- skeletal remains Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Museum of the American Indian
4220 Silver Hill Rd
Suitland, Maryland 20746-2863
nmaiarchives@si.edu