ROSEBUD SIOUX – kansa muutoksen tilassa
One hundred years ago, the American-Swedish immigrant John Anderson (1869-1948) pioneered photography among the Sioux Indians on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. With his camera, he recorded the Brulé-Sioux’s migration from the free plains to a new and different life on the closed reservation. The Sioux Indians , their way of life and the transformation of their culture became a major interest of John Anderson. He devoted more than fifty years of his life to that group of people. In various ways, Anderson helped the Indians to find their place in a strange new world. Today, Anderson is considered one of the most important photographers to document Native American life in the United States in the 1800s.
After working as a carpenter, John Anderson learned to become a photographer. His real job was as a shopkeeper on the reserve. In 1889 he was commissioned to photograph Sioux Indian leaders during their negotiations with General Crook. It was from these historic moments that Anderson began a lifelong friendship with the Sioux Indians. As a photographer, he worked mostly as a portrait photographer, but his output also includes outdoor scenes. He depicted daily life on the Rosebud Reservation, including ceremonies, meat-sharing ceremonies, habitat and crafts, and of course portraits of tribal chiefs. His portraits of such notables as Red Cloud, Hollow Bear, High Horse and Fool Bull are unique documents of individuals who a decade earlier had fought for the independence of their people. A closer look at these portraits gives the viewer an insight into the rich information they contain. The images reveal both the traditions and symbolism of the clothing worn by the Plains Indians.
Handicrafts were an important part of everyday life for the Sioux Indians of North America. The shaping of objects was guided by dreams and visions. The exhibition features a selection of contemporary crafts and traditional objects related to the Native American tradition. Of course, the change in lifestyle was not only reflected in the clothing worn. The cultural and religious values of the Indians also changed dramatically after they were forced to settle on the reservation.
The images in the exhibition date from 1885 to 1925 and were printed from glass negatives that survived in 1986. The exhibition is complemented by photographs of present-day Rosebud taken by Bob Gough, Eric Haase and C-H Jacobson between 1986 and 1992.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a lecture by Professor Markku Henriksson on the Indians of North America – the ultimate white man’s problem, which will explore the history and present of the Indians and the history of the relationship between the Indians and the white man. The lecture will be held in the Art Museum Lecture Hall on Wednesday 1 March at 18.30.
The exhibition is produced by C-H Jacobson Produktion Ab, Sweden.
Translated with DeepL.com