Photographs of Indians of the Southwest by E.A. Bonine: Finding
Aid
Finding aid prepared by Michelle Sanchez.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© 2013
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Overview of the Collection
Title: Photographs of Indians of the Southwest by E.A. Bonine
Dates (inclusive): 1880-1883
Collection Number: photCL 200
Creator:
Bonine, Elias A., 1843-1916
Extent:
73 photographs in 1 box; photographs 17.5 x 11 cm. (7 x 4 in.)
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains 73 studio portraits of Native Americans from southwestern Arizona, and were probably taken between
1880 and 1883 in
E.A. Bonine’s photography tent in Yuma, Arizona.
Language: English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
Photographs of Indians of the Southwest by E.A. Bonine. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance
Gift of the Grace Nicholson Estate in 1963.
Biographical Note
Elias A. Bonine (1843-1916) was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Not much is known about his early life, but at some point
he became interested in photography for a career.
In 1876, Bonine sold a sawmill he owned and moved to California along with his cameras. He traveled throughout California,
operating a tent photography business as he went. His travels from 1880 to
1883 took him to Yuma, Arizona, where he photographed the Yuma, Mohave, and Cocopa Indians. The point of these photographs
was not to archive the tribes’ cultures, but to satisfy customers’ desires
to see a romanticized version of the Indians. Despite his popularity, Bonine left Yuma and moved back west to Pasadena, where
he set up his home base. He travelled back to Arizona in later years,
photographing the Silver King Mine area and the town of Pinal.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection contains 73 studio portraits of Native Americans from southwestern Arizona,
and were probably taken between 1880 and 1883 in E.A. Bonine’s photography tent in Yuma, Arizona. The collection includes
photographs of Chief Pasqual of the Yuma tribe, and posed portraits of members of the Yuma,
Apache, Pima, Cocopa, Tohono O’Odham (also known as the Papago), and Mohave tribes. A few of the portraits have been identified
with the names of people and tribes, but the majority of individuals
remain unidentified.
Indexing Terms
Apache Indians -- Photographs.
Cocopa Indians -- Photographs.
Indians of North America -- Arizona -- Photographs.
Mohave Indians -- Photographs.
Pima Indians -- Photographs.
Tohono O’Odham Indians -- Photographs.
Yuma Indians -- Photographs.
Portraits.
Photographs.
Box 1
Photographs
Note
The collection originally held 102 photographs, but 29 photographs are now missing, as noted below.
Titles for items 1-14 are transcribed from typed captions accompanying the photographs. Titles in brackets were supplied by
cataloger.
Folder 1, Item 3
“Two squaws, one dressed in U.S. flag” [Possibly Yuma]
Folder 1, Item 4
“Ell-moosh and Ael-yeck, two squaws” [Possibly Yuma]
Folder 1, Item 5
“Two squaws with pottery”
Folder 1, Item 7
“I-yell and She-cush, two squaws”
Folder 1, Item 9
“Brother and sister” [Possibly Yuma]
Folder 1, Item 10
“I-yell, squaw, half-figure”
Folder 1, Item 11
“She-cush, squaw, Ye-gee-ney Indian”
Folder 1, Item 13
“He-pah and C-coup, two squaws”
Folder 2, Item 16
[One Indian woman wearing pendant necklace standing, one Indian woman sitting. Possibly Pima]
Folder 2, Item 17
[Two Pima women with blouses and skirts]
Folder 2, Item 18
[Indian woman with necklace and face paint sitting. Possibly Yuma]
Folder 2, Item 19
[Indian woman, man, and child. Possibly a family]
Folder 2, Item 22
[Two Indian women in plaid skirts]
Folder 2, Item 26
[Indian woman in grass skirt standing by chair]
Folder 2, Item 27
[Two Indian men in Western clothes sitting and two Indian women standing behind them]
Folder 2, Item 28
[Two Mohave men standing, one with top hat]
Folder 2, Item 29
[Indian woman with cloak and doll]
Folder 2, Item 30
[Four Indian women. Three of the women are touching each other reassuringly]
Folder 2, Item 31
[Three Indian men sitting with bows and arrows]
Folder 2, Item 33
[Indian man in Western dress sitting. Indian woman standing with a hand on the man’s shoulder]
Folder 2, Item 34
[Two Indian men sitting with a third Indian man resting his hands on their shoulders. Possibly Yuma]
Folder 2, Item 35
[Papago (also known as Tohono O’Odham) man in Western dress]
Folder 2, Item 38
[Indian man with bow, arrows, and knife, posing. Possibly Yuma]
Folder 2, Item 39
[Indian man with bow, arrows, and knife, posing. Possibly Yuma. Variant of (39)]
Folder 2, Item 40
[Indian man in Western dress sitting. Indian woman in cloak and necklace standing with a hand on man’s shoulder]
Folder 2, Item 41
[Indian man in Western dress and long braided hair. Noted to be Mohave, but researcher says Yuma]
Folder 2, Item 42
[Indian man with bow and arrows with an arrow in his mouth]
Folder 2, Item 43
[Indian woman with necklace and face paint sitting]
Folder 2, Item 44
[Indian woman and man with bow and arrows, sitting]
Folder 2, Item 46
[Indian woman holding a young boy]
Folder 2, Item 49
[Mohave woman standing next to large pottery]
Folder 3, Item 52
[Two Cocopa men with bow and arrows and body paint]
Folder 3, Item 53
[Two Indian women holding a basket]
Folder 3, Item 54
[Mohave woman in Western dress]
Folder 3, Item 55
[Two Indian women holding a basket]
Folder 3, Item 56
[Indian woman balancing a basket on her head. Possibly Yuma or Pima]
Folder 3, Item 58
[Five young Indian girls]
Folder 3, Item 59
[Pima man with body paint on legs, sitting]
Folder 3, Item 61
[Indian man, woman, and child. Possibly a family]
Folder 3, Item 62
[Four young Indian girls with dolls]
Folder 3, Item 64
[Two Indian women sitting with Indian man in Western shirt]
Folder 3, Item 65
[Indian man standing next to chair]
Folder 3, Item 71
[Indian woman in grass skirt and another in plaid skirt]
Folder 3, Item 74
[Two Mohave girls with dolls]
Folder 3, Item 75
[Two Pima women holding hands]
Folder 3, Item 76
[Close-up portrait of Indian woman with necklaces and face paint sitting]
Folder 3, Item 77
[Indian woman wearing necklaces and face paint standing by chair]
Folder 3, Item 78
[Pima woman sitting in chair]
Folder 3, Item 79
[Two Apache men sitting and one Apache man standing with bow and arrows] [2 copies]
Folder 3, Item 80
[Three Indian girls with dolls and pottery]
Folder 3, Item 81
[Indian girl in rope skirt sitting]
Folder 3, Item 82
[Two Indian girls with pottery]
Folder 3, Item 83
“…three bucks, shirts, and G strings”. [Three Indian men in Western shirts]
Folder 3, Item 84
[Pima woman sitting in chair]
Folder 3, Item 86
[A Mohave chief sitting in chair]
Folder 3, Item 87
[Pima chief and medicine man]
Folder 3, Item 88
[Four Indian girls with face paint]
Folder 3, Item 91
[Cocopa man in Western dress sitting]
Folder 3, Item 92
[Indian woman sitting in boy in her lap. Possibly Yuma]
Folder 3, Item 93
[Yuma boy covered in body paint]
Folder 3, Item 96
[Indian woman and man. Man is dressed in Western clothing]
Folder 3, Item 97
[Old Indian woman sitting]
Folder 3, Item 98
[Mohave woman and two boys]
Folder 3, Item 99
[Two Pima women with baskets and pottery]
Folder 3, Item 100
[Indian woman seated with pottery and basket]
Folder 3, Item 102
[Indian man in Western clothing]