Alfred Kroeber and the Photographic Representation of California Indians

Abstract

Alfred L. Kroeber is considered the founder of California Indian studies and was a pioneer in ethnographic photography. The Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley houses 548 of Kroeber's surviving pictures. Most were taken between 1901 and 1930. Kroeber documented only three California tribes substantially in his photographs: the Yurok, the Yahi, and the Hupa. The Yurok were the focus of Kroeber's ethnography during his long career, and he photographed them repeatedly. Ishi, the last Yahi Indian, was the second most popular subject. In 1914, Kroeber and a research team went to Tehama County with Ishi and photographed him demonstrating the customs of his people in what was their homeland. Unlike many other photographers, Kroeber omitted ceremonial pictures and photographed Indians as they dressed, not in pseudo-traditional garb, although Ishi's demonstrations were an exception.