National Museum of the American Indian

Edward L. Mattil collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAI.AC.381
Creators:
Mattil, Edward L.
Dates:
1973 - 1977
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
1 Linear foot
67 Photocopies
22 Color transparencies
316 Slides (photographs)
1 Sound cassette
Repository:
This collection consists of 316 35mm color slides, 67 color photocopies, 12 exhibition labels, 2 catalog booklets, and 1 audio cassette representing the lives, culture, and arts of the Guna peoples of the Guna Yala Indigenous Territory (formerly San Blas), Panama. The photographs were taken by Edward L. Mattil during visits between 1973 and 1977, and depict Guna people in their daily lives, as well as a wide variety of mola textiles that they had made.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Edward L. Mattil collection consists of 316 35mm color slides, 67 color photocopies, 12 exhibition labels, 2 catalog booklets, and 1 audio cassette representing the lives, culture, and arts of the Guna peoples of the Guna Yala Indigenous Territory (formerly San Blas), Panama. The photographs were taken by Edward L. Mattil during visits between 1973 and 1977, and depict Guna people in their daily lives, as well as a wide variety of mola textiles that they had made.
Notable images include villagers fishing, harvesting coconuts, erecting house structures, images of children, and numerous photographs of Guna women creating molas. Also included in this collection are Mattil's exhibition labels which provide greater context to his photographs, as well as a 1974 publication by Mattil titled "The Cuna Mola."

Arrangement

Arrangement
The materials in this collection are organized into folders.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Edward L. Mattil received his B.S., M.A., and Ed.D. degrees from Penn State University. Passionate about the arts of every culture, he later taught art education at Penn State as well as at St. Cloud State University and North Texas State University. He also served as the editor of the
Everyday Art
magazine from 1957 until 1984.
He took these photographs and collected the associated objects while visiting the Guna Yala Indigenous Territory (formerly San Blas), Panama, between 1973 and 1977.

Administration

Author
Nathan Sowry
Processing Information
Processed by Nathan Sowry, Reference Archivist, in 2019.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was donated by Edward L. and Betty Mattil in 2008.
Separated Materials
A number of Guna objects, including approximately 40 molas, were collected by Edward L. Mattil, and also donated to the NMAI in 2008. These objects were assigned object numbers: 26/6725-26/6728, 26/6732-26/6760, 26/6773-26/6794.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday – Friday, 9:30am – 4:30pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
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 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.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Edward L. Mattil collection, NMAI.AC.381; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Kuna (Cuna) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
San Blas Islands (Panama) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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