Indigenous Identities: Portraits of Native Americans in the Civil War Era
Charles Milton Bell (American, 1848 – 1893), Es-En-Ce (Little Shell), 1874, photograph, 6 ½ x 4 ¼ inches, Gift, E. D. McCauley, Esq., 1940.206.48.1 Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania.
Indigenous Identities: Portraits of Native Americans in the Civil War Era installed at the Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania.
Charles Milton Bell (American, 1848 – 1893), Lo-Cha-Ha-Jo (Lochar Harjo), 1877, photograph, 6 ½ x 4 ¼ inches, Gift, E. D. McCauley, Esq., 1940.206.48.4, Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania.
Indigenous Identities: Portraits of Native Americans in the Civil War Era installed at the Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania.
Alexander Gardner (American, 1821 – 1882), Pe-Ji’ (Grass), 1872, photograph, 6 ½ x 4 ¼ inches, Gift. E. D. McCauley, Esq., 1940.206.48.13, Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania.
Indigenous Identities: Portraits of Native Americans in the Civil War Era installed at the Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania.
Possibly Charles Milton Bell (American, 1848 – 1893), or possibly William Henry Jackson (American, 1843 – 1942), Kam-Ne-But-Se (Blackfoot) and Wife, c. 1873, photograph, Gift, E. D. McCauley, Esq., 1940.206.48.16, Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania.
William Henry Jackson (American, 1843 – 1942), Mo-Ha-Nuzhe (Standing Bent), 1868, photograph, Gift, E. D. McCauley, Esq., 1940.206.48.37, Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania.
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Indigenous Identities: Portraits of Native Americans in the Civil War Era
Indigenous Identities tells the stories of 49 Indigenous people living in the American West during the United States Civil War era (1846 – 1877) through original photographic portraits from The Museum’s Permanent Collection. This exhibition will offer an illuminating micro-perspective into a turbulent and perilous time in American history, through the faces and stories of individuals who lived it.
Indigenous reactions to white expansion ranged from strategic tolerance to staunch resistance. Many leaders, like Washakie of the Eastern Shoshone, worked hard to shield their people from violence by strategically negotiating with the U.S. government and adopting certain aspects of white culture while championing the continuation of their own traditions. Some Indigenous men, like Lochar Harjo of the Muscogee peoples and Black Beaver of the Delaware, even served in the Union Army during the Civil War. In contrast, other leaders like Navajo chief Manuelito and his wife Juanita fought tenaciously against the expansion of the United States, waging war until they were forced to surrender under threat of starvation. Despite these different forms of resistance, Indigenous peoples’ actions in the Civil War era underscore their agency in protecting their sovereignty during a time of great upheaval.
