A Medicine Head-dress — Blackfoot

Edward Curtis uses a strong side view of a Pikuni (Blackfeet) medicine man, seen against an empty background to highlight the texture of his skin and his remarkable bird headdress. Curtis writes: “A head-dress of the sort here depicted consists of some part of the body, sometimes the entire skin, of the creature that appeared as a spirit in a dream of the wearer and instructed him how to have its help, especially in war.” Headdresses such as this are considered sacred and operate within Native cosmologies as animate, powerful objects. This image draws attention to the complications of documenting sacred ceremonial objects. Curtis strove to communicate aspects of the elaborate religious systems of the different tribes. Yet, without knowing the full significance of the headdress or the role of the man who is wearing it, this portrayal can be negatively critiqued for removing an object from its ceremonial context to highlight its exoticism.