Salvage ethnography

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A Hupa fisherman—In the early 20th century, Edward Curtis traveled across America recording photographs of the disappearing lifestyle of American Indian tribes.

Salvage ethnography is a branch of ethnography concerned with the practice of salvaging a record of what was left of a culture before it disappeared. Salvage ethnography is also a branch of anthropology.

Some of the objectives of salvage ethnography include:

Presenting correct and objective details of a different way of life.
Gathering a first hand experience in another language and culture, so as to have an insider's point of view.
Developing a holistic approach by understanding language, folklores, myths, religions and social life, family and kinship, economy and politics of the culture, subject to study.

Robert H. Lowie (1883–1957) was one of the first to employ salvage ethnography as a technique when completing studies on the culture of the Crow Indians. The purpose of the technique was "to salvage a record of what was left of a culture before it disappeared." This aspect had assumed a particular significance at that time (during 18th century and early 19th century) as the American Indians were becoming separated from their traditional culture.

Lowie trained with anthropologist Franz Boas in New York, who lead the "Vanishing Tribes of North America" project from 1899-1906 while working for the American Museum of Natural History. This project intended to document the culture of North American tribes along the Pacific Ocean, comparing them to the cultures of Asia.

Lowie was joined in this practice by numerous other professional anthropologists, artists, and photographers. Anthropologist such as Alfred L. Kroeber (1876–1960) collected ethnographic material in a multi-pronged approach of collecting basic linguistic information, as well as oral histories, and objects representing a group's material culture.

Frances Densmore (1867–1957), an important ethnomusicologist, worked in the tradition of salvage ethnography. Densmore recorded the songs and lyrics of Native Americans in an attempt to preserve them permanently.

Artists compounded the work of professional anthropologists during this time period. Photographer Edward S. Curtis (1868–1952) was preceded by painter George Catlin (1796–1872) in attempting to capture indigenous North American traditions that they believed to be disappearing. Both Curtis and Catlin have been accused of taking artistic license by embellishing a scene or making something appear more authentically, "Native American". Edward S. Curtis notes in the introduction to his series on the North American Indian, "The information that is to be gathered ... respecting the mode of life of one of the great races of mankind, must be collected at once or the opportunity will be lost." This statement reflects the artists paternalistic concern for documenting the culture of American Indians and is representative of both the popular and academic sentiment of the time.

[edit] References

Conn, Steven. "History's Shadow: Native Americans and Historical Consciousness in the Nineteenth Century." Chicago, University of Chicago Press. 2004. ISBN: 0-226-11494-5.

Smith, Sherry. "Reimagining Indians: Native Americans Through Anglo Eyes, 1880-1940." Oxford, Oxford University Press. 2000. ISBN: 0-19-515727-3.

Carter, Edward, ed. "Surveying the Record: North American Scientific Exploration to 1930." Philadelphia, American Philosophical Society. 1999. ISBN 0-87-169231-7

[edit] See also

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