One of the gems of the Minneapolis Athenaeum’s collection is a complete set Edward S. Curtis’s landmark work The North American Indian, published between 1907 and 1930.  This important project, comprised of 2228 photographs and accompanying text, captured the haunting images of American Indians at a moment in history when their rich and ancient civilization appeared by many observers to be on the verge of vanishing forever.  Apart from the obvious artistic value of its stunning photographic images, The North American Indians is enormously significant as a historical and ethnographical record that details the culture more than eighty Native American nations.  To view a complete set of these images and to learn more about Curtis please visit the Library of Congress’s online exhibit.

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