Native American Portraits – Fine Art Photography by James Cook | James Cook Fine Art Photography

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Traditional Subjects

Traditional Subjects is a fine art photography series celebrating Native Americans engaged in preserving and expressing their heritage through dance, artistry, and personal presence. Available as fine art prints, this collection invites collectors and admirers alike to connect with the beauty and resilience of Native identity.

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On December 29, 1990, in blowing snow and wind-chill temperatures around fifty degrees below zero, more than 350 mounted riders approached Wounded Knee, South Dakota to observe the end of seven generations of mourning on the centennial of the historic massacre there. The riders had retraced the path of Chief Big Foot and his people on the seven-day ride. As they rode over the last few hills, the frozen horses and riders took on a timeless and ghostly appearance as if they were indeed riding in from the past. The suffering that all experienced from the cold that day seemed that much more appropriate in remembering the results of one culture failing to understand another.

As they approached, the ground was literally shaking under my feet from about 1,400 pounding hooves of horses traveling at a moderate trot. I stood my ground and kept shooting as I became enveloped in the midst of the frozen horses and riders.

At some point, a number of runners - on foot - started to appear among the horses. I got caught up in the exhilaration of the moment. For as long as I was able, I turned and ran with them.

This photograph, by James Cook, is on display as part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of the American Indian. For three years it was included in the museum's traveling Song for the Horse Nation exhibition.

The Centennial Ride to Wounded Knee On December 29, 1990, in blowing snow and wind-chill temperatures around fifty degrees below zero, more than 350 mounted riders approached Wounded Knee, South Dakota to observe the end of seven generations of mourning on the centennial of the historic massacre there. The riders had retraced the path of Big Foot and his people on the seven day ride. As they rode over the last few hills, the frozen horses and riders took on a timeless and ghostly appearance as if they were indeed riding in from the past. The suffering that all experienced from the cold that day seemed that much more appropriate in remembering the results of one culture failing to understand another.

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The grass dance evolved from when men tucked long grasses into their belts to today's colorful outfits which are covered from shoulder to ankle with long flows of brightly colored cloth fringe. The steps and movements are very old and are believed to have originated from an old warriors dance to express victory over an enemy. The traditional dance is one of the oldest dances of the Northern plains. Some say it originated when war parties returned to the village and would dance out their story of the battle. The outfit typically consists of a coup stick, eagle feathers, furs, porcupine quills, beads and bells and may include pieces handed down over generations.

Lakota Dancers at Red Rocks A Lakota grass dancer follows a traditional Lakota dancer across a ridge at Red Rocks Park in Colorado. The grass dance evolved from when men tucked long grasses into their belts to today's colorful outfits which are covered from shoulder to ankle with long flows of brightly colored cloth fringe. The steps and movements are very old and are believed to have originated from an old warriors dance to express victory over an enemy. The traditional dance is one of the oldest dances of the Northern plains. Some say it originated when war parties returned to the village and would dance out their story of the battle. The outfit typically consists of a coup stick, eagle feathers, furs, porcupine quills, beads and bells and may include pieces handed down over generations.

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Born and raised in Pittsburg, Cody Coe wholeheartedly grasped his Lakota Sioux and Northern Ute roots. He’s a registered member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, a Lakota Sioux tribe. Coe dances in powwows around the country as a professional, competitive dancer.

Cody Coe Born and raised in Pittsburg, Cody Coe wholeheartedly embraces his Lakota and Northern Ute roots. He’s a registered member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, a Lakota Sioux nation. Cody dances in pow wows around the country as a professional, competitive dancer. 'When you dance, it's like a prayer. Every little movement has a different meaning,' he says. His is an entirely hand-made Northern Traditional outfit, which includes porcupine quill, deer hair, bone, and eagle feathers and talons. Native Americans traditionally hold nature and animals in great esteem. They kill if they need to and take only what they need while giving thanks for their sacrifice. Animals are seen as spirit guides teaching and guiding them and sometimes protecting them. In the Native American tradition, both Bald and Golden Eagles were considered especially sacred. As a Native American, Cody has privileged access to eagle feathers, talons, and bones for use in religious and cultural ceremonies. For all others, it’s illegal to possess, use or sell eagle feathers—a policy that is meant to deter hunters from poaching wild eagles for their feathers or body parts. Every year, each tribal member over the age of 18 can apply to the National Eagle Repository for up to one whole golden or bald eagle or various pieces that are equivalent to what one single eagle would contain, such as a pair of wings.

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Garth Butler, an Ojibwe (Chippewa), wears an outfit consisting of a chief's redcoat, an antique beaver skin hat, and a hand-carved war club. Below his knees are sashes made with deer toe rattles.

Around 1800, the Ojibwe controlled nearly all of present-day Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and Minnesota. They were hunters, fishers, and farmers. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, they defended their territory from encroachment from the Iroquois on the east and the Lakota on the west.

The Ojibwe are part of a long-term alliance with the Odawa and Potawatomi, called the Council of Three Fires. The Ojibwe are, and have been, one of the more populous Native American tribes in North America.

French Jesuits were the first European contact for the Ojibwe with subsequent trade alliances leading them to side with France in the French and Indian War in 1756.

Hoping to protect their lands against encroachment by American settlers they allied with the British in the War of 1812. Red coats were sometimes given to chiefs as gifts from the British. They became prized possessions and the Hudson Bay Company, an English fur-trading enterprise, carried on the gifting of red coats to chiefs who were friendly and of service to them.

Ojibwe in Redcoat Garth Butler, an Ojibwe (Chippewa), wears an outfit consisting of a chief's redcoat, an antique beaver skin hat and a hand carved war club. Below his knees are sashes made with deer toe rattles. Around 1800, the Ojibwe controlled nearly all of present-day Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Hoping to protect their lands against encroachment by American settlers they allied with the British in the War of 1812. Red coats were sometimes given to chiefs as gifts from the British. They became prized possessions and the Hudson Bay Company carried on the gifting of red coats to chiefs who had been friendly and of service to them. The Ojibwe are part of a long-term alliance with the Odawa and Potawatomi, called the Council of Three Fires. The Ojibwe are, and have been, the most populous of the three and are the fourth-largest population among Native American tribes in the United States

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Debbie and Robin Hassinger of Cassopolis, Michigan pose in their Women's and Men's Traditional Woodland outfits.

Debbie is a 13th great-granddaughter of Pocahontas and therefore 14th of Wahunsunacawh, chief of the Powhatans. She's also a grand niece of John Curtis Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It adds up to a bloodline of Cherokee and Powhatan plus Irish and German. She designed her outfit with roses to represent the Cherokees' Trail Of Tears and shamrocks to represent her Irish heritage.

The fringe was taken from the hide dress that she made and wore for her naming many years ago. Her spiritual name is Menoanungqwa, meaning Good Star Woman.

She is retired, now being a housewife and involved in the ministries in their church. She has pride and responsibilities that, as a woman elder, she takes very seriously.

Robin, a senior designer for BorgWarner, is Ojibwe with a spiritual name of Ma Day We Mgizee, meaning Strong Heart Eagle. He made his entire woodland regalia which consists of floral oriented beadwork and a typical black background.

Couple in Woodland Regalia Debbie and Robin Hassinger of Cassopolis, Michigan pose in their Women's and Men's Traditional Woodland outfits. Debbie is a 13th great-granddaughter of Pocahontas and therefore 14th of Wahunsunacawh, chief of the Powhatans. She's also a grand niece of John Curtis Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It adds up to a bloodline of Cherokee and Powhatan plus Irish and German. She designed her outfit with roses to represent the Cherokees' Trail Of Tears and shamrocks to represent her Irish heritage. The fringe was taken from the hide dress that she made and wore for her naming many years ago. Her spiritual name is Menoanungqwa, meaning Good Star Woman. She is retired, now being a housewife and involved in the ministries in their church. She has pride and responsibilities that, as a woman elder, she takes very seriously. Robin is Ojibwe with a spiritual name of Ma Day We Mgizee, meaning Strong Heart Eagle. A senior designer for BorgWarner, he made his entire woodland regalia which consists of floral oriented beadwork and a typical black background. 'I spent one winter beading my turban and another winter beading the top. The beads that hang in the front are an old way' His outfit, one of several, consists of deer toe jingles on the ankles, buffalo on the knees, cuffs and the tail of his fan, wild turkey spurs on his necklace and a muskrat medicine bag. The sassafras dance stick was a gift from his mother. A vine grew around it forming the spiral. The eagle head, foot and feathers for his bustle were also gifted. 'I grew up hunting, fishing living off and with the land and nature.' says Robin. 'I believe it is important we teach our children this and not let modern technology take such a big hold on our children. Teach them to plant, harvest, respect, nurture and pray more.'

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Odawa in Traditional Regalia Ron Wittenberg serves on the tribal council of the Little River Band of Odawa Indians located in Manistee. In Michigan, the Odawa (Ottawa) traditionally used lands throughout what is now the Lower and Upper Peninsulas of Michigan for hunting, cultivating and gathering. The Little River Band lived along the Manistee River, Pere Marquette River and in several villages on the Grand River. The Odawa are in the Council of Three Fires alliance with the Potawatomi and Ojibwe. All are among the Anishinaabeg nations that inhabited the Great Lakes region and speak variations of the Algonquin language. Ron, a full-blooded Odawa, is wearing a Men's Traditional Regalia consisting of woodlands and western elements. The leggings, for instance, are tight without fringe and his porcupine hair roach is cut back in the front in the woodlands style, but the eagle feather bustle is western. Horse hair dangles from the feather ends. He did the beadwork on his eagle dance stick with colors honoring the service of his brothers and others in Vietnam. Otherwise, 'everything I wear was gifted' by family and friends. His spiritual name is Bah Maa mii Nini meaning Man Looks Around. Ron's turtle shell depicts walking the Red Road into the red and purple sunset: life's journey. The colors around the perimeter and the yellow dots on the feathers of his fan represent the four directions. Yellow is the east and the start of a new day.

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In 1984 I was at a pow wow at Wounded Knee, South Dakota when I spotted this interesting elderly couple sitting in the shade. The drums were loud, so I smiled at them and gestured that I'd like to take a photo. The man nodded his consent and I took a quick shot and moved on.

Thirty years later while reviewing past images, I came across this image and decided to do something more than store it. Their character, his digital watch, the lawn chairs, the styrofoam cup on the plastic jug, and the incidental teepee all just added up to an intriguing image.

Since I like to include information and identification, I contacted an old friend, Walter Littlemoon, who lived at Wounded Knee, to see if he might recognize the couple. He did. It turned out that this is among my more significant images. Until then I had no idea. Walter informed me that the man was Frank Fools Crow with his wife, Kate.

Frank Fools Crow was a Lakota Sioux spiritual leader, Yuwipi medicine man, and a nephew of Black Elk. He was instrumental in negotiating the end of the armed standoff at Wounded Knee in 1973 and the subject of a biography by Thomas Mails. His father did not approve of his attending the

Chief Fools Crow and Kate Frank Fools Crow (June 1890 - November 27, 1989) was a Lakota Sioux spiritual leader, Yuwipi medicine man, and the nephew of Black Elk. He was instrumental in negotiating the end of the armed standoff at Wounded Knee in 1973 and the subject of a biography by Thomas Mails. Raised in the traditional way, he did not attend 'the white man's school' as his father did not approve, which is why he could not speak fluent English. As a young man he traveled around the United States with the Buffalo Bill Cody Wild West Show. He spent much of his life serving his people as a medicine man, healer, and teacher.

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Built hundreds of years ago, there are nineteen pueblo villages left in New Mexico. There were more than 100 when the Spanish first arrived in 1540. A pueblo, the Spanish word for village, consists of multistoried, communal adobe houses built by the Pueblo people.

Just a few miles outside of Santa Fe, Tesuque Pueblo, which has been continuously inhabited for more than 800 years, remains one of the more conservative pueblos. It continues to practice ancient customs despite modern pressures. Possibly the close proximity to Santa Fe contributed to an earlier protective mode of their culture even as it allowed artists and potters to sell their work to merchants who, in turn, sold to tourists.

Handcrafted small jars and animal figurines decorated with colorful designs became popular with tourists and collectors of Native American art. Rain god figurines became especially popular and have been produced in the thousands. Tesuque artists also create silver and bead jewelry, traditional clothing, paintings, and weaving, although farming remains one of the pueblo's primary activities.

It was only after several visits and discussions with the elders that I was able to get permission to photograph there. On one of my visits, Priscilla and Jose Vigil cordially agreed to dress and pose for me in the pueblo center. Priscilla was noted for creating traditional pottery. Their son, Gil Vigil, was the pueblo governor at the time.

Priscilla and Jose Vigil of Tesuque Pueblo On one of my visits to Tesuque Pueblo, the Vigils cordially agreed to dress and pose for me in the pueblo center. Their son was the pueblo governor at the time.

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Roy Jealous of Him Roy Jealous of Him, a Lakota Sioux, outside his one room cabin on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

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Navajo painter, RC Gorman On an extremely hot summer's evening in June 1994, RC Gorman sat for me on the prairie near his Taos, New Mexico home. He was sweltering under a 100-year-old wool blanket and gallantly tolerating mosquito bites to pose for this portrait.

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Signature with Copyright is superimposed on digital images only, and does not appear on purchased, personally signed prints.

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