This one started with the oldest of story questions,

what if . . .?

Photographs were extremely popular in the 1890s. Almost every eastern home had “parlor picture books” that often featured photographs of Native Americans, even pictures of men in kivas and on mountain tops performing scared ceremonies. However, there were no pictures of women’s ceremonies. Likely because men would not have been allowed to view, much less picture, such ceremonies, and women photographers were expected to take “parlor pretties.” 

What if . . . a woman photographer felt compelled to document the women of Sioux Sacred Quillworkers before they, their art and their sacred ceremonies disappeared?

What if . . .that same woman was at Wounded Knee and had evidence that the US Army's “battle to end all Indian Wars” was really a massacre?

Because her camera saw too much, that woman would be in danger. She would likely put others in danger--her husband, his business associates, her family, anyone who tried to help her, etc.

There are many ways to “see too much.” No doubt that woman, and her photographic art, would be changed forever by the Sioux Quillworkers and their art.

Interesting Tidbits:

Porcupine quillwork, such as the example pictured on the outside edge of the book cover, was once considered a sacred dream art practiced only by Indian woman who had been invited to learn the secrets of this art. When trade beads became available, beadwork replaced the older quillwork. Today, it has been revived and both men and women artists do quillwork.

Those iconic black-and-white photographs of the American West were nearly always done be a team, often a husband and wife working together. He would take the photographs and she would do the printing. Guess who got credit? Guess who is now being recognized as probably contributing the larger part to the artistic quality of the images? Taking photographs involved lugging around huge cameras and handling glass plates and/or early film. However, the printmaking was done under extremely adverse conditions, often in the back of a wagon, using non-standardized chemicals, amid dust, and changing weather. Sometimes the wife would also take photographs, but often these were sold under her husband’s name.

Aesthetics of photography in the 1890s was being widely debated. No one was sure whether it was an art or a science. Many felt that the camera as an “eye” ought to look at the world exactly as the human eye views it. Odd angles and hand-held snapshots were considered poor form.

The trial of Plenty Horses is a real event. He was the Indian who killed an Army officer in front of witnesses. No one thought he could be successfully defended. He was acquitted, partly because his lawyer established that he was a prisoner of war. The case is still studied and cited most recently in the current debate over the rights of "enemy combatants."

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