HAMILTON, C.L., photographer. A group of 8 CDVs of Sioux subjects. Fort Randall, Dakota Territory, ca 1860s-1870s.

8 CDVs on cardstock mounts. Six of the eight with verso imprint of C.L. Hamilton, Fort Randall, D.T., ca 1860s-1870s. Some cartes with penciled notations on recto and/or verso, possibly added later.

Subjects include: Nee-wah-cu-kah, aka The one that looks at the Moon. -- E-hah Gaska, aka White Elk. -- Mak-spe-a, aka Dark Cloud. -- Nee-lah-tonka, aka The Big Belly. -- Shunka-do-tah(?), aka Red Dog. -- Toch-stah-u-stat, aka Lame Duck. -- 2 unmarked examples, originally taken by Hamilton, including a portrait of a Yankton or Brule Sioux man with a vertical stripe painted down his forehead signifying that the Hunka (Adoption) Ceremony, one of the seven sacred rites of the Sioux people, has been performed in his honor, probably when he was a boy. This conferred a life-long prestige on the individual, with associated responsibilities of exemplary behavior and accomplishment. With manuscript notation on verso, "Chief of a band Sioux." -- Together, 8 CDVs.

Kentucky native Charles Lewis Hamilton (b. ca 1837) moved to Macon County, MO, with his family, ca 1841. During the Civil War, Hamilton and some of his brothers fled the violence. By 1865, he had ventured up the Missouri River and was taking photographs at Fort Randall, with most of his known portraits produced at the Yankton and Santee Agencies located near the fort. He also took a series of portraits of officers and enlisted men representing the 6th Iowa Cavalry stationed at Fort Randall. Hamilton was the post trader at Fort Randall, ca 1866-1870s, and by 1875, he had moved his studio to Sidney, Nebraska. He later journeyed to the Black Hills to work as a mine operator. (Information obtained from www.American-Tribes.com.)

The Larry Ness Collection of Native American Photography

This lot is located in Cincinnati.