Edward S. Curtis Above the Medicine Line: Portraits of Aboriginal Life in the Canadian West

by Rodger D. Touchie

Overview

Edward S. Curtis Above the Medicine Line is both an introduction to the Seattle-based photographer and a tribute to a true visionary. While Curtis’s photographs will long be his legacy, his own story is likewise compelling. Curtis built his first camera at 12 and developed that interest into a large Seattle photo studio by the age of 30. Then, on an expedition to Alaska in 1899, Curtis was exposed to First Nations cultures in a way that affected him profoundly. First Nations people had been decimated due to the diseases and aggressions of white settlers. Curtis, alarmed that their traditional ways of life were in danger of disappearing forever, made an incredible effort to capture their daily routines, character and dignity through photography and audio recordings. Curtis had planned to document only the First Peoples of the United States and Alaska, but his exposure to Canada’s Blackfoot Nation spurred him to include all of North America. The visual result was The North American Indian, a 20-volume record of 75 of North America’s Native peoples. This collection of Curtis’s images includes 100 of his most striking images and a biography.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781927051207
Publisher:	Heritage House
Publication date:	11/29/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Rodger D. Touchie was first attracted to writing when his MBA thesis was published in three parts by Canadian Business magazine. Rodger continued writing, including books on BC history and travel, before becoming the owner/publisher of Heritage House in 1995. He and his wife, Pat, divide their time between Nanoose Bay and Victoria, BC.

Table of Contents

Map 8

Preface 11

Acknowledgements 13

Introduction 15

Part 1 Planting the Seeds 19

The Early Years 19

The Defining Years 22

A Grand Vision 26

The Calling 29

Summons of a President 32

Part 2 The Journey Begins 35

The Proposition 35

In the Beginning 37

The First Five Volumes 44

Volumes 6 to 8 46

The Kutenai 57

The Quest Goes On 62

Part 3 The Tribes of British Columbia's Coast 63

The Coast Salish 63

The Kwakiutl 80

The Winter Dance 103

In the Land of the Head Hunters 114

The Nootka 118

The Haida 134

Part 4 North to Alberta 143

The Dark Years 143

The Indians of Alberta 145

The Chipewyan 146

The Western Woods Cree 150

The Northern Assiniboin (Stoneys) 156

The Blackfoot Confederacy 162

The Sarsi 170

Part 5 Denouement 176

The Final Volumes 176

The After Years 179

A Rich Legacy 180

The Art and the Artist 183

Bibliography 186

Index 187

Editorial Reviews

Rodger D. Touchie’s Edward S. Curtis: Above the Medicine Line is a handsome volume that treats readers to some of Curtis’s stunning black-and-white photography. As Touchie tells of Curtis’s life and travels, the photographs offer compelling glimpses of landscapes and peoples that a century later seem both strangely present and remarkably foreign. You will want to linger over many of these extraordinary images.” —Phil Koch, Canada’s History

"This book provides excellent information on ethnographers' bias and the tension created preserving the cultures and creating an image of the noble savage." —Canada’s History

From the Publisher