NMAI.AC.143_Representative
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One of the photographs is restricted due to cultural sensitivity.
Donated by J. Harold Waugh, Jr. in 1930.
Arranged by catalog number.
John Harold Waugh, Sr. was born west of Greenville, Pennsylvania in 1853, son of Judge William W. Waugh. Around 1873 he married to Ella M. Hammond, daughter of Dr. Hammond, formerly of Brooklyn, and they had two sons, William Hammond and John Harold, and one daughter, Edna. Waugh was stationed as the Indian agent from 1890-1893 at the Devil's Lake Agency which included the Fort Totten Reservation and Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. Fort Totten reservation is now part of the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devil's Lake) in North Dakota. Between 1867 and 1890, Fort Totten served as a military post policing the surrounding reservation inhabited by the Wahpetonwan Dakota, formerly called "Devils Lake Sioux." In 1890 the Fort was decommissioned and on January 5th, 1891 the former post became the property of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
J. Harold Waugh, Jr., born in 1877, was still a young man while his father was stationed in North Dakota. After the death of his father in 1894 he along with his mother and sister moved back to Pennsylvania. Waugh eventually settled in New Jersey and opened an advertising firm. He later donated his negatives to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation in 1930 and deposited additional materials with the museum in 1950.
The Fort Totten Industrial Training School was originally an outgrowth of the mission school established by the Catholics in 1874 and the industrial school established by the order of the Grey Nuns from Montreal. After a fire burned down the main buildings of the mission in 1883 a new mission was built half a mile northeast of Fort Totten. In 1890 when the Fort was decommissioned, the Mission school was consolidated with the Industrial School and placed under the supervision of Superintendent William F. Canfield. Under Canfield the school taught students from the Spirit Lake (Devils Lake) reservation, Turtle Mountain reservation, and Standing Rock reservations in North Dakota, the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana, the White Earth Reservation, Red Lake Reservation, and Leech Lake reservations in Minnesota. Most pupils were enrolled for three to five years and half the school day was devoted to industrial work including harness making, shoemaking, tailoring, carpentry, masonry, blacksmithing, farming and engineering for the boys and cooking, breadmaking, housekeeping, laundry work and sewing for the girls.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); J. Harold Waugh photographs from the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devil's Lake Reservation) image #, NMAI.AC.143; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Processed by Rachel Menyuk, Processing Archivist, 2020
J. Harold Waugh later donated a collection of plains ethnology to the MAI in 1941. These items had been collected by his father John H. Waugh while he was an Indian Agent in North Dakota from 1890-1893. You can view these items here:
This collection includes 41 glass plate negatives and copy negatives shot by J. Harold Waugh, the son of Indian Agent John H. Waugh on the Spirit Lake (Devil's Lake) reservation between 1890 and 1893. Waugh, who was a young man at the time, shot photographs documenting the activities at the Fort Totten Agency in North Dakota in addition to taking several group portraits and photographing buildings and landscape views. The buildings Waugh photographed included agency offices, post buildings, Issue buildings, a hotel in Fort Totten, the Episcopal mission, Roman Catholic convent and the Fort Totten Industrial Training School. Waugh shot photographs during several Wahpetonwan Dakota dances (some restricted), on Issue Day, and of a sham battle that took place in front of his house in Fort Totten. He also made portraits of Wahpetonwan Dakota community members, including members of the Spirit Lake (Devil's Lake) Indian police force. Several of the group portraits also include his father, John Waugh, and his sister, Edna Waugh. Although the majority of the photographs were made outside, there are several portraits of Minnesota Chippewa [White Earth, Minnesota] girls who were students at the Fort Totten Industrial school which appear to have been shot inside the school. Many of the Wahpetonwan Dakota community members were identified in the original catalog, though name spellings vary. Several photographs still remain unidentified.
The copy negatives were created by the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation (NMAI's predecessor museum) during a photo conservation project in the 1960s.
N20150 - N20192. N20158 and N20189 were destroyed, no copy negative exists.
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's
Priest at a church altar
Indoor portrait of a Roman Catholic priest standing beside a church altar on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. Wooden pews can be seen in the foreground.
Catholic convent and school
Landscape view of a Roman Catholic convent and mission school on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. See also N20165.
Mission buildings in the snow
Landscape view of a mission covered in snow on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. Same mission is in N20153. Possibly St. Michaels mission run by the order of the Grey Nuns.
Mission buildings
Landscape view of a mission on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. Same mission is in N20152. Possibly St. Michaels mission run by the order of the Grey Nuns.
John H. Waugh with the Wahpetonwan Dakota and Turtle Mountain Chippewa police captains
Outdoor portrait of the Devils Lake Agency Police captain (possibly Wiyakamaza/Iron Feather) and the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Police captain (possibly Alexis Montriel) standng behind Indian agent John H. Waugh on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota.
John H. Waugh and Walking Soldier (Sicangu Lakota [Rosebud Sioux])
Outdoor portrait of John H. Waugh (seated), Indian agent, and Walking Soldier (Sicangu Lakota [Rosebud Sioux]) on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation). Walking Soldier was a member of the Indian police force on the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota.
Wahpetonwan Dakota dance
Outdoor view of Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] group seated on the ground and in wagons for a dance on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. Tipis can be seen in the background.
Agency buildings in Fort Totten
Landscape view of the hotel and other agency buildings in Fort Totten on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. See also N20161 and N20185.
Kopsicha (Wahpetonwan Dakota) in the snow
Outdoor portrait of Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] man, Kopsicha, standing beside a tipi and wagon in the snow on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota.
Issue day in Fort Totten
Landscape view of issue day in Fort Totten on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] tribal members sit grouped in a field with wagons and horses.
Agency buildings in Fort Totten
Landscape view of the hotel and other agency buildings in Fort Totten on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. See also N20157 for a closer shot and N20185.
Issue office buildings on issue day
View of the office and issue buildings in Fort Totten on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota on issue day. Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] community members can be seen lining up in front of the building. See also N20187.
Fort Totten Industrial School
Landscape view of the post buildings, used for the Fort Totten Industrial Training School, on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. The post buildings were turned over from the military in 1890 and used for the school until 1935.
Wahpetonwan Dakota gift dance
Outdoor view of Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] group seated on the ground and in wagons for a dance on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. Tipis can be seen in the background. It is possibly an intermission during a gift dance.
Catholic convent and school
Landscape view of a Roman Catholic convent and mission school on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. See also N20151.
Wahpetonwan Dakota sham battle
View of Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] group on horseback after a sham battle in front of the Indian Agent's house (John H. Waugh) in Fort Totten. On the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota.
Fort Totten
Landscape view of Fort Totten on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devil's Lake Reservation) in North Dakota.
Devil's Lake Indian Agency employees
Outdoor group portrait of the Devils Lake Agency Indian Service employees including Indian police, judges, and Indian agent, possibly shot in Fort Totten on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. L-R Standing: [unknown], Frank Palmer (non-indian store-keeper), Indian police officers Canpocksa (Caupaxa), Tyakmani, [unknown], Thomas, Jim, Swift Bear, Oyesna (Abraham), Police Captain Wiyakamaza (Iron Feather), Mike, Louis Langin, Sanica. Seated L-R: Tio Waste (Little Fish, Judge), Matochatka (Chief Left Bear, Judge), Ichnjanka/Ecanajinka (Chief Standing Steady, Judge) and son, John H. Waugh (Indian Agent), Curley. See N20171 for a similar group photograph.
RESTRICTED. View of Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] scalp dance on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota.
View in Fort Totten
Landscape view from a house in Fort Totten on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. It's possible this was the view from J. Harold Waugh's home while his father was stationed as Indian Agent there.
Devil's Lake Indian Agency employees
Outdoor group portrait of the Devils Lake Agency Indian Service employees including Indian police, judges, and Indian agent, likely shot in Fort Totten on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation). Standing row of Indian police (Wahpetonwan Dakota) L-R: Tyakmani, Jim, Swift Bear, Oyesna (Abraham), Thomas, Canpocksa (Caupaxsa), Sanica, Police Captain Wiyakamaza (Iron Feather), Louis Langin, Mike, [unknown]. Seated row in front L-R: [unknown], Ichnjanka/Ecanajinka (Chief Standing Steady, Judge), Waanatan II (Chief Wanata, Judge), Matochatka (Chief Left Bear, Judge), unknown child, John Waugh (Indian Agent) with daughter Edna Waugh on his lap. The man kneeling behind the front row was possibly an agency interpreter. See also N20168 for a similar group portrait.
Maude Bender and Annie Telfsson (Minnesota Chippewa)
Indoor portrait of two young Minnesota Chippewa women, Maude Bender and Annie Telfsson, from the White Earth Reservation at the Fort Totten Industrial Training School on Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. They both wear school uniforms.
Three Minnesota Chippewa students at Fort Totten
Indoor portrait of three young Minnesota Chippewa women from the White Earth Reservation at the Fort Totten Industrial Training School on Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. They wear hats and dresses and are posed in front of a work of embroidery.
Wahpetonwan Dakota dance
Outdoor view of Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] group seated on the ground and in wagons for a dance on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. Tipis can be seen in the background. Possibly a council meeting during a dance intermission.
Episcopal Mission
Landscape view of an Episcopal Mission on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. See also N20182.
Devil's Lake bay
Landscape view of the Devil's Lake Bay on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota.
Two Wahpetonwan Dakota men
Outdoor portrait of two Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] men in traditional clothing on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota.
Wahpetonwan Dakota group
Outdoor portrait of Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] group on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. The faces are blurred, though the person on the right holds a pipe and the man in the middle is possibly Nagiwakan (Holy Ghost).
Strikes the Eagle (Wahpetonwan Dakota)
Outdoor portrait of Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] man Strikes the Eagle on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. He sits cross-legged on the ground in a garden in front of a fence.
Tipis and wagons
Landscape view of tipis and wagons on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota.
Wahpetonwan Dakota family
Outdoor portrait of a Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] family posed in front of a building in Fort Totten on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota.
Episcopal Mission
Landscape view of an Episcopal Mission on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. See also N20175.
Turtle Mountain Chippewa group
Outdoor portrait of a group of Turtle Mountain Chippewas sitting and standing in front of tipis and a church building on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. This photograph was not shot by Waugh, it was more likely given to him.
Issue day in Fort Totten
Landscape view, possibly on issue day, of Fort Totten on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] tribal members gather outside the Forts boundaries with wagons and horses.
Agency buildings in Fort Totten
Landscape view of the hotel and other agency buildings in Fort Totten on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. See also N20157 and N20161.
Wahpetonwan Dakota group
View of a Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] group (blurry) sitting inside a tipi during a dance on Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota.
Issue office buildings on issue day
View of the office and issue buildings in Fort Totten on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota on issue day. Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] community members can be seen lining up in front of the building. See also N20162.
Tusie (Wahpetonwan Dakota) with John and Edna Waugh
Outdoor portrait of Wahpetonwan Dakota woman Tusie standing with John H. Waugh and his daughter Edna Waugh in Fort Totten on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota.
Tio Washte (Wahpetonwan Dakota) and Matocatka (Wahpetonwan Dakota) with John Waugh
Oudoor group portrait with two Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] men, Tio Washte/Tiowaste (Little Fish), right, and Matoa Chetka/Matocatka (Left Bear), left, with John H. Waugh, Indian agent, standing between them. On the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota.
Wahpetonwan Dakota group with John and Edna Waugh
Outdoor portrait of a group of Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] men standing with John H. Waugh and his daughter Edna Waugh in Fort Totten on the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota. The leftmost man wears a police uniform. The man sixth from the left is Frank Palmer, a non-indian shopkeeper.
Wahpetonwan Dakota sham battle
View of Wahpetonwan Dakota [Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe] group on horseback after a sham battle in front of the Indian Agent's house (John H. Waugh) in Fort Totten. On the Spirit Lake Reservation (Devils Lake Reservation) in North Dakota.