If you’ve read Beth’s article on the Standing Arrow Pow Wow, you know that we didn’t take any photos of the dancers. Beth and I were prepared to take our cameras into the pow wow grounds to get some shots of the event. But when she contacted the organizers a couple days in advance about rules for taking pictures, she was told that you may only take still or motion pictures if you get advance permission from each individual dancer. And if you’re going to use the photos or videos for commercial purposes, you need to get written permission.
If you’ve never spent time on an Indian reservation, this is quite a bit different than what you might expect. In the US, it’s generally acceptable to photograph any public event where the participants have no reasonable expectation of privacy. This means I can go to the farmer’s market and photograph the vendors, their products, shoppers, etc. But I can’t go into the restroom and take photos there; even though it’s a public place, people there have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
The pow wow was on the Flathead Reservation, and I’m not clear whether the pow wow grounds are considered public property. It may be private property owned by the tribal government, or private property owned by some individual.
So enough about the legal background. Let’s talk about the moral issues. There’s a long history of non-Indians taking photos without permission of Indians, their art, their religious ceremonies, etc. It’s been one of the many sad chapters in US history that so much Native American culture has been forcefully destroyed or diluted. So the respectful thing to do nowadays is to always ask permission before photographing any Native person, event, property, etc.
Given all that, I was a little shocked that so many people ignored the tribe’s rules regarding getting permission from dancers to photograph them. There were at least a dozen touristy types (like us) obviously taking pictures all day long. However, I noticed the tribe (or pow wow organizers) didn’t put up any signs about their photography policy. So you’d only know the rules if you called ahead of time and asked about the rules. And I never once saw any official intervene to stop anyone taking pictures.
When we’ve visited reservations in the past, they’ve been very clear about their rules against photographing dances without permission (especially the pueblos of New Mexico). There have been signs all over, so nobody could reasonably claim ignorance. But at this pow wow, there was nothing like that.
Given all that, when we saw that there were so many photographers taking pictures, what do you think the right thing was for us to do? Should we have said “well, everyone else is doing it, so it must be OK” and gone back to the car to get our cameras? Should we have mentioned to the other photographers that they were doing something forbidden by the tribe? Should we have just kept our mouths shut?
What would you have done? And for you really deep thinkers, how does moral relativism affect your answer?
I know the synopsis is crappy, but I’d really like to hear your opinions on this. ESPECIALLY if you’re a photographer or frequent traveler.
Todd – I certainly would not have taken any pictures, especially if I had advanced knowledge of the tribal policy. I may have said something to the other visitors. I likely would have spoken to some member of the tribe, an apologized for the intrusion. I have often apologized for the rudeness of American citizens when traveling abroad, especially when their behavior is appalling.
I think we have a responsibility to educate each other on these issues, and I am glad to see that you posted this entry, because it definitely exposes a problem with certain attitudes in our country. In general, I think Americans lack respect for culture that is not our own, and that saddens me.
BTW, a similar issue exists with the Amish in the Midwest. One should not assume they are open to being photographed, and simply asking if it is OK makes a big difference in building trust between cultures.
I only got feedback from one friend. Is Daren the only person who has an opinion about photographing Native Americans?
Not knowing the rules, I probably would have taken the photos. If I were going to sell them, I would have gotten written permission, but that’s pretty standard.
If I had known the rules ahead of time, I would not take the photos. Thanks for educating me on what seems like normal Native American policies re: photography.
All that said: With the various traditions and arts of the Native American tribes slowly dying out, wouldn’t a major step in preserving this history be photographing and videoing these dances and traditions? Wouldn’t the tribes, organizers and people want a photographic record? Just some thoughts…
Also, I think any photos or video taken by amateurs or professionals who aren’t specifically doing a archival project would be a waste to any historical preservation anyhow. The amateur photos are likely to just go up on somebody’s Facebook page and then be forgotten. And photos by a “pro” that don’t show the preparation of the dance regalia is useless for historical preservation. It would be like taking a photo of the last space shuttle launch, thinking that future generations might be able to build a new one based on that photo. That’s my opinion, anyhow.
Steve, American Indian cultures are not dying out. They’re doing everything they can to preserve their languages and educate their youth at the 30+ tribal colleges. I don’t think the elders want pictures of their culture. They would rather focus on keeping their culture alive.