In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant issued an executive order establishing the Colville Reservation for the Salish-speaking Indian nations in north central Washington. Among the Indian nations of the Colville Reservation is the Okanogan. The international boundary between the United States and Canada divided the tribe into two group: the Southern Okanogan (River Okanogan) in the United States, and the Northern Okanagan (Lake Okanagan) in Canada. This division is reflected in the difference in spelling of the English version of the tribal name. In their own language they are uknaqínx meaning “people of uknaqín” in reference to their place of origin, Okanagan Falls in British Columbia.
An exhibition in the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (MAC) in Spokane, Washington, Portraits from the Borderlands, featured photographs of Okanogan men taken by Frank Sakae Matsura (1873-1913). Matsura came to Washington from Japan about 1901. According to MAC:
“His body of work includes some of the most visually powerful and nuanced images of Indigenous people from the era: conceptually sophisticated and collaborative portraits of individuals and families with whom Matsura maintained trusting relationships.”
Matsura’s photographs show a time when Okanogan culture was changing and there is a blend of traditional Plateau Indian cultural elements with the intrusive elements from Euroamerican culture. Many of the major photographers of this time, considering themselves pictorialists, sought to reinforce the stereotypes of the mythical Indian past and the belief that Indians were destined to disappear, but Matsura’s photographs show the reality of Okanogan people at this time. According to MAC:
“This exhibition explores how Matsura's artistic legacy challenges colonial stereotypes, unsettles power dynamics in image-making, and fills important gaps in art history and regional narratives. Matsura died of tuberculosis at the age of 32, but he left an important body of work that helps us today to interpret and understand the past.”
Shown below are some of Matsura’s photographs of Okanogan women.
One of the distinctive characteristics of women’s clothing among the Plateau tribes is the basket hat. This hat is usually described as being fez-shaped with designs woven it. In her book Columbia River Basketry: Gift of the Ancestors, Gift of the Earth, Mary Dodds Schlick reports:
“The graceful proportions of these hats and the varied execution of the traditional banded zigzag design required great skill on the part of the weaver.”
More Indians 101
Indians 101: Historic photographs of Okanogan families (museum exhibition)
Indians 101: Historic photographs of Okanogan men (museum exhibition)
Indians 101: Entiat and Chelan Indians (museum exhibit)
Indians 101: Plateau Horse Regalia (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Some Old Indian Photographs (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Some historic photos of the Bitterroot Salish (photo diary)
Indians 101: Dugout canoes of the Upper Columbia River (museum tour)
Indians 101: Wenatchi Indians (museum exhibit)