(PHOTOGRAPHY). (NATIVE AMERICANS). BERGER, Henry, Jr. (Photographer). Four photographs of Native American subjects.

Rare Photographs of Six Blackfeet Chiefs

(PHOTOGRAPHY). (NATIVE AMERICANS). BERGER, Henry, Jr. (Photographer). Four photographs of Native American subjects. (Montana [but printed in Portland, Oregon]: ca. 1926)    Two photos with ink stamp of the "Berger Studio / 205 Blue Mouse Theatre Bldg. / Portland - Oregon" on versos of cards, and all with contemporary pencil inscriptions in English and German.

Four excellent photographic prints by a prominent Portland, Oregon photographer, all from the same collection and with extensive contemporary notes identifying the sitters.

Henry Berger Jr. (1877-1939) was a Pacific Northwest photographer who operated a studio in Portland, Oregon from around 1918-40. His subjects included portraits, nature photography, landscapes, and city views, and his work won both national and international national awards, including a gold medal at the 1915 World's Fair. Before opening his own studio, Berger was a member of Oregon Camera Club (he became its president in 1913), learned color photography techniques in New York, and spent time in Montana where he photographed landscapes and Native American subjects. He seems to have been particularly focused on Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet tribe, as the present photos attest.

According to the notes on the versos of these four photos, they are all "souvenirs from Uncle Berger, Munich stay, summer 1926." Apparently "Uncle Berger" visited his nephew in America and brought back these original works from his photo studio in Portland. The versos also contain valuable information about the people pictured in the photographs--information presumably related by the photographer himself.

The photos in this group include:

1. Silver gelatin photograph (267 x 175 mm.), hand tinted. Mounted on card. Card a little toned and with a crease to one edge; photograph with a couple very minor imperfections visible in raked light. Verso of card with pencil notations in English and German. The notations identify the subject of this portrait as Red Belt of the Blackfeet tribe, and tell us that he was was a "model for Proctor" (Alexander Phimister Proctor). According to the Buffalo Bill Center for the West, Red Belt (also known as Big Beaver) was one of the models for the artist's monumental bronze "On the War Trail," commissioned in 1922 for the Civic Center in Denver, Colorado. The hand tinting here is very well done.

2. Matte albumen print (255 x 165 mm.), hand tinted. Mounted on card. Slight offsetting in upper left quarter of photo and mount (probably where a newspaper clipping or slip of paper was in contact). Verso of card with pencil notations in English and German. The pencil notations on the verso identify the sitter as Two Guns White Calf (1872-1934), a chief of the Piegan Blackfeet in Montana. Two Guns White Calf was especially active promoting tourism to Glacier National Park (where the present portrait was taken), and was a member of the secretive Mad Dog Society, which sought preserve Blackfeet Heritage.

3. Matte albumen print (167 x 268 mm.) Mounted on card. A few small creases and dents to card, photo in fine condition. Verso of card with ink stamp of the Berger Studio and pencil notations in English and German. This photograph depicts four Native American subjects sitting together in an outdoor setting. A large mountain rises in the distance and teepees can be seen in the background. The notes on the verso identify three of the  subjects here: Mountain Chief "Inostoko" [i.e. Ninna-stako]; Stabbed-by-Mistake [or Stabs-by-Mistake]; and Many Tail Feathers--all chiefs of Blackfeet tribes. Mountain Chief (ca. 1848-1942) was a particularly prominent figure. He was one of the signers of the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868, participated in the Indian Congress of 1898, traveled to Washington, D.C. to speak on behalf of his tribe, and assisted ethnomusicologist Frances Densmore with her folk song recordings.

4. Matte albumen print (167 x 268 mm.) Mounted on card. Card edges sunned, photograph possibly a little faded (or just overexposed?). Verso of card with ink stamp of the Berger Studio and pencil notations in English and German, recto with a pencil note in English. This is the only photograph in the present group that depicts the photographer, Henry Berger, Jr. He is pictured between two Native Americans identified as Eagle Child and Two Guns (i.e. Two Guns White Calf), both Blackfeet chiefs. The composition is informal, as though Berger was caught in mid conversation.  (1044)