[Series of Nineteen Real Photo Postcards of Nakoda Native Peoples in and Around Banff]

Banff, 1920. Very good.. Nineteen real photo postcards, each captioned in the negative. One with writing on the image, minor wear and soiling else. A few with notes on the verso. A wonderful collection of real photo postcards documenting the Stoney Nakoda Indians at Banff Indian Days, taken by noted photographer Byron Harmon. Harmon (1876-1942) started his career as a portrait photographer in Tacoma in the 1890s, subsequently working as an itinerant photographer across the Southwest and eastern seaboard. An asthmatic from a young age, he relished the clear air of the mountain climate, and on a trip in the Canadian Rockies learned there was no photography studio yet established in Banff. He returned in 1906 and set up shop, operating as a photographer and druggist from 1906 to 1925. Most of Harmon's extensive output is dedicated to mountain scenery and tourism photography. He was a charter member of the Alpine Club of Canada, serving as its official photographer, a role which provided him opportunities to capture some of his most important and striking images. The photos in the present grouping include handsome posed portraits of the local Stoney Nakoda people, as well as scenes of Indian camp life, all presumably taken at the Banff Indian Days celebrations. They are captioned in the negatives as follows:

503. Western Canadian Indian Family
506. Stoney Indian and Squaw
507. Indian Chief
511. Indian Children
512. Indian Camp
513. Stoney Indian
516. Indian Chief
521. Western Indian Squaw
525. Indians at Banff
527. Stoney Indians
528. Stoney Indian Girl
530. Stoney Indian and Squaw
532. Stoney Indian Chief
533. Hector Crawler, Stoney Indian Chief
535. Stoney Indian Squaw
536. Indian Travois
537. Stoney Indian
538. Ends Hunter, Stoney Indian
541. Indian Chiefs

All told, a wonderful collection of Native American images from this important photographer of the Canadian Rockies.