In the unforgiving landscape of early 20th-century Northern California, one photographer dedicated herself to a subject many of her contemporaries ignored: the local Native American tribes. This was a time of immense pressure and sorrow for Native communities, as government policies actively worked to erase their languages, traditions, and ways of life through forced assimilation and boarding schools. Instead of seeing disappearing people, Emma B. Freeman saw the people behind the policies and recognised their profound cultural history that couldn’t be lost. These 30 portraits are the result of her unique vision, offering a powerful and often romanticized glimpse into the lives of the Yurok, Hupa, and Karuk people as they navigated a world that was so set against them.
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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Image source: Emma B. Freeman
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