Mass-produced stereograph features a posed scene of two Indian women baking bread in a classic Pueblo oven called a “horno oven.” A fire is built in the oven to heat it, after the oven is hot the coals are removed, the bread dough is inserted and the opening is sealed to trap the heat. The bread bakes over a period of many hours.

Real photo postcard shows two young Navajo women shearing sheep to be used in weaving traditional Navajo blankets, rugs and clothing. Mass-produced to be sold as a souvenir of Arizona.

Along with William Henry Jackson and Timothy O’Sullivan, John K. Hillers was one of the premier Western survey photographers of the 19th century American West. This posed shot shows a group of Southern Paiutes hunting rabbits with bow and arrow. Julian H. Steward, Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, writes that there is no information about the use of the feather crowns shown in the photograph among the Southern Paiutes. The appearance of the crown in Hillers’ photograph is no proof it was an article of everyday wear, especially as many of the groups he photographed were obviously dressed and posed for the camera. Among the Owens Valley Paiutes in California this type of headgear was used, but only as dance regalia. Just because a photograph was taken on an early expedition is no guarantee what is shown is authentic.

This group of three photographs comes from a Kincaid, Saskatchewan collection. The nearest Indian reserve to Kincaid is the Wood Mountain Reserve, which was set aside for the Sioux Indians who did not return to the United States with Sitting Bull in 1881. The Assiniboine Indians also have reserves in southern Saskatchewan, and the clothing and decoration of the two groups on horseback reflect Assiniboine traditions. These Assiniboines are perhaps attending a tribal gathering of some sort. The significance of the procession of women and children is unclear. They seem to be dressed in their best clothing and so perhaps they are attending a tribal gathering or some religious event.