Postcards featuring Native American portraits and ceremonial scenes, F. A. Rinehart
Four Native American Portrait and Ceremony Postcards, ca. 1900–1903
A striking group of four early 20th-century color-printed postcards featuring Native American portraits and ceremonial scenes, mounted together on their original cardboard backing.
The cards include a portrait identified as Chief Wolf Robe, Cheyenne, as well as a portrait identified as a Horse Snake Priest and a scene captioned “Moki Snake Dance.” The individual portraits bear the copyright line of F. A. Rinehart, Omaha, Neb., dated 1903. The Snake Dance image carries a 1902 copyright by the Detroit Photographic Co.
F. A. Rinehart (1863–1928) was an important American photographer known particularly for his portraits of Native Americans. His Omaha studio produced widely distributed photographic images during the period around the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition of 1898 in Omaha, when numerous Native American delegations were photographed for commercial and documentary purposes.
The images provide an interesting glimpse into the period's representation of Native American individuals, clothing, regalia and ceremonial traditions. The Chief Wolf Robe portrait is particularly notable, while the Moki Snake Dance scene depicts a large group gathered for a ceremonial performance.
The four images are presented together on a cardboard backing, giving the piece the appearance of an early souvenir or display sheet rather than four completely independent loose postcards.
On the reverse is a large colored photographic image of Jupiter Terrace in Yellowstone National Park, adding a second important early American tourism subject to the piece.
Images / Subjects
- Chief Wolf Robe, Cheyenne
- Horse Snake Priest
- Moki Snake Dance
- One additional Native American portrait, title not clearly legible
- Jupiter Terrace, Yellowstone National Park on the reverse
Details
- Date: ca. 1900–1903
- Photographic / publishing credits: F. A. Rinehart, Omaha, Nebraska; Detroit Photographic Co.
- Format: Four color-printed photographic postcards/images mounted on cardboard
- Copyright dates visible: 1902 and 1903
- Reverse: Colored image of Jupiter Terrace, Yellowstone National Park
- Page size: 28 × 23 cm (11 × 9 in.)
