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Aurora University to Open 'Peoples of the Plateau' Photo Exhibit on Sept. 22
9/18/2009
AURORA, Ill. — "Peoples of the Plateau: The Indian Photographs of Lee Moorhouse 1898-1915," an exhibit of 51 black and white photographs of Native Americans, will be hosted by Aurora University's Schingoethe Center for Native American Cultures in Dunham Hall, 1400 Marseillaise Place in Aurora, from Sept. 22 to Jan. 3, 2010.
A reception for the display will be held from 4:30 to 7 p.m. on Sept. 22. The public is invited. Admission is free.
The local display is part of a two-and-a-half-year national tour containing photographs reproduced from the original glass plates. The tour was developed and is managed by Smith Kramer Fine Art Services, Kansas City, Mo.
Meg Bero, Schingoethe Center executive director said, "In the photographic archives of our nation, so many images of American Indians are nameless, and in a sense, faceless. This anonymity creates 'types' rather than people with human emotion and attributes.
"Although Moorhouse created many of his portraits in the studio, most of the sitters are named, giving them the identity and proper respect deserved. The photographs in this exhibit bring people to life and help us to understand their humanity and their history."
A lecture corresponding to the "Plateau" exhibit, "A Traditional Woman in a Contemporary World," will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 in the Schingoethe Center. Marjorie Waheneka, a member of the Confederated Umatilla Tribes of Eastern Oregon, will speak.
In 1898, amateur photographer Thomas Leander "Lee" Moorhouse began recording scenes in and around Pendleton, Ore.
His glass-plate negatives are little known today, but they provide a rich and important visual record of the interior Pacific Northwest as it transitioned from frontier life to the modern era.
Born in 1850 in Iowa, Moorhouse traveled with his family in 1861 by ox-drawn wagon across the Plains and settled in Washington Territory.
As an adult, he was employed as an Indian agent and became friends with the local tribes. One of his most famous portraits is of Chief Joseph.
Moorhouse took up the photographic hobby around 1897. During a 25-year career, he produced more than 9,000 glass-plate negatives.
Two-thirds of his images record turn-of-the-century life in rural northeastern Oregon and adjoining Washington State. They capture the reality of local ranch life, small town activities, and regional train and water traffic.
Moorhouse also made more than 600 photographs of the Pendleton Round-Up. These include all aspects of that famous rodeo, including action portraits of many of the noted animal and human (male and female) performers of the event's first decade.
Best known among Moorhouse's photographs are his images of the Indian people of the southern Columbia River Plateau. He served as agent for the Umatilla Indian Reservation during 1889-1891 and he was heralded locally as an authority on Indian life.
He bought and sold Indian curiosities for several decades and was known for a collection of Indian objects that was an institution in northeastern Oregon. Moorhouse frequently used items from his curio collection to adorn his photo subjects.
However, his non-studio views of life on the Pacific Northwest's interior Indian reservations also provide an important record of the region's rich equestrian history. The Indian people of the Columbia River Plateau are generally less well-known and celebrated for their horses than are their neighbors on the Plains.
The Moorhouse photographs reveal that the Plateau was a major center and exporter of Indian horse culture.
The exhibit is part of AU's 2009-2010 Celebrating Arts and Ideas series of art exhibits, music, film, theater performances and lectures.
Sponsors of the 2009-2010 Arts and Ideas series are Nicor, gold sponsor; City of Aurora, Harris Bank, Human Resources Management Systems, LLC, Old Second National Bank and Sodexo, silver sponsors; Alarm Detection Systems, Inc., BFC Integrated Print Management, Sikich LLP, and Whitt Brothers Garage, bronze sponsors; and Comcast and The Beacon News, media support.
For reservations or information, call (630) 844-4924, e-mail artsandideas@aurora.edu, or visit aurora.edu/artsandideas to make reservations online.
