Portrait of a Native American Woman

Picture postcards became a part of the U.S. postal system in the 1870s and are one of the most common formats for the imaging of reservation-era American Indians. As portraits, they vary in content and function. Many were mass-produced as souvenirs for visitors to reservations or Wild West shows. A purely commercial enterprise, these postcards repeat the tropes of early frontier photography that capitalized on stereotypes of the “Lone Warrior” or the “Vanishing Race.” On the other hand, it was common for American Indians to have their portraits printed as postcards for personal use, and many local studios created images that attest to a variety of lived experiences and histories.