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Crow Indian Photographer: The Work of Richard Throssel

Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Summer 1999 by Brust, James S

CROW INDIAN PHOTOGRAPHER

The Work of Richard Throssel

Peggy Albright

University of New Mexico Press, 1997. Illustrations, map, chart, notes, bibliography, index. xvi + 231 pp. $75.00 cloth, $37.95 paper.

Richard Throssel, a quarter-Cree Indian adopted into the Crow tribe, took up photography after moving to Crow Agency, Montana, in 19o2. Working first as an amateur and later as a professional, Throssel let his camera document life on the Crow Reservation during the first decade of the twentieth century. Yet despite his unique perspective as a tribal member, and his large and varied outpouring of images, his work has received only sporadic attention. Peggy Albright's fine book goes a long way toward remedying the situation.

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A gifted photographer, Throssel mastered many styles. His portraits, aided perhaps by the fact he was personally known to his subjects, are both beautiful and sensitive. His scenic views have a fine pictorial quality. He did skillful documentary work on health-related topics after receiving an official appointment as photographer for the Department of the Interior's Office of Indian Affairs (Indian Service), and he produced images of Indian life in days gone by-ethnologically important visual records of both sacred and religious ceremonies. In addition, he produced a romanticized series he called "Western Classics from the Land of the Indian," which were marketed to a white audience.

Throssel's work was influenced by his personal place in the Crow tribe and the wider political situation that existed between the United States government and the Crow people in the early years of the twentieth century. Albright provides good insight into these factors in a detailed text that forms the first part of the book. With a journalistic background, she is at her strongest in the biographical and historical realms. The use of commentary by modern Crow elders on a portfolio of Throssel's photographs provides ethnological detail and the Indian perspective.

About seventy-five of Throssel's photographs are beautifully reproduced, and readers will find themselves wishing to see more. While there are always limits on the number of images a book can contain, some areas of Throssel's work seem underrepresented. Even if additional photos were in small format or appendix form, readers would enjoy seeing all thirty-nine images of the Western Classics series, all thirty-three of the Tobacco Society ceremony, and all of the health-related series. Albright exercises restraint in presenting most of Throssel's views of sacred ceremonial activities. While one can respect the author's reasons for doing so, Throssel's documentation of the Northern Cheyenne Massaum ceremony must rank among his most significant work, and one longs for the time when no controversy would surround the publication of those and similar images.

The contributions from three modern Crow elders add greatly to this book. While the "chatty" style of their commentary is charming, a more formalized handling of their material would seem in order. They refer to fascinating tribal events, customs, and legends (e.g. "sacred helpers" and "four standard deeds of valor") that go unexplained (pp. 82, 84). Albright's own text is annotated, and the material supplied by the Crow elders should be as well.

Despite any shortcomings, however, this beautiful book is an important addition to the literature and a must-- read not only for students of Indian photography but for anyone interested in the difficult early days of reservation life for Native American people.

James S. Brust

San Pedro, California

Crow Indian Photographer: The Work of Richard Throssel

Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Summer 1999 by Brust, James S

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