National Museum of the American Indian

Camilla S. Edholm photographs from Panama

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAI.AC.157
Creators:
Edholm, Camilla S.
Dates:
1934-1938
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
18 Copy negatives
10 Postcards
6 Photographic prints
Repository:
Negatives, postcards, and photographic prints made and acquired by Camilla S. Edholm in the San Blas Islands and Darién Province in Panama circa 1934-1938. These include images of Guna [Guna Yala], Chucunaque Guna (Kuna), and Emberá (Choikoi) community members.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection includes 18 copy negatives, 10 postcards and 6 photographic prints made around 1934 and in 1938 in San Blas Islands and Darién Province in Panama. The negatives, made in 1938, include images of Guna (Kuna) community members in the Guna Yala Indigenous Territory (San Blas) and Guna de Madugandí Indigenous Territory. These include portraits of women, men and children posed in front of dwellings, in canoes, and completing communal tasks such as sugar cane extraction. One of the portraits includes an image of Chief Nele Kantulu from Ustupu who was the Kuna Yala leader of the Kuna Revolution (N25431). The postcards, acquired by Edholm in either 1934 or 1938, include captions in white lettering on the front and depict Kuna community members along the Río Chucunaque which runs between Emberá-Wounaan Indigenous Territory, Darién Province and the Guna de Waragandí Indigenous Territory. These include both scenic views and portraits. The last six photographic prints, also made in 1938, include images labeled as "Mona Island" though it is likely that they were shot on Monos Island in Kuna Yala (San Blas). These include an interior view of a primary school as well as portraits and scenic views.
Only five of the photographs were shot by Edholm (likely from P18401-P18406), the remainder of photographs from 1938 were shot by a Mr. Hatau who accompanied Edholm on her trip. The set of postcards were bought as a set on a trip to Panama in 1934. Edholm's original negatives were loaned to the MAI in 1950 and were made into prints and copy negatives by the Museum at the time.
Copy Negatives made from Edholm's prints (most likely shot by Mr. Hatau): N25430-N25447, Postcards: P18243-P18252, Photographic prints by Edholm: P18401-P18406.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Arranged by media type and catalog number.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Camilla Shaler Edholm was born in Nebraska to Albert and Katherine Edholm in 1901. She later became a New York City public school teacher and in the 1930s made several trips to Latin America including multiple trips to Panama. In 1938, Edholm taught English at Balboa High School in the Canal Zone in Panama. During her 1938 trip to Panama, Edholm went on various expeditions to the San Blas Islands visiting with the Guna (Kuna) communities. She died in Minnesota in 1976.

Administration

Author
Rachel Menyuk
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Camilla S. Edholm in 1950.
Processing Information
Processed by Rachel Menyuk, Processing Archivist, 2020. Identifications and additional cultural information provided by Kuna Yala artist Oswaldo De Leon Kantule in 2004.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Camila S. Edholm photographs from Panama, image #, NMAI.AC.157. National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, 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. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.

Related Materials
The MAI also purchased a small collection of Guna (Kuna) material from Edholm in 1950. These objects have catalog numbers 21/7215 – 21/7220 and can be found in NMAI's ethnographic collections.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Panama Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chucunaque Guna (Kuna) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Guna [Guna Yala] Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Emberá (Choikoi) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Guna (Kuna) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
San Blas Islands (Panama) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Copy negatives Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Postcards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographic prints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of Central America -- Panama Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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