I finished Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher. It was interesting and on a topic I didn't know much about. It's about Edward Curtis who was a photographer in Seattle who embarked on a huge project at the turn of the last century to photograph and document the remaining Indian cultures before they disappeared. He was an innovator in film, perfecting new methods for developing and preparing photos, in musicology, using an early recording device to capture Indian music, linguistics, writing alphabets and pronunciation guides as well as recording languages (Sometimes from the last living speaker), and film, making one of the first feature films.

The work was 20 volumes, but he had constant financial issues that limited the production of the work. Extant copies today sell at auction for $1.5+ million dollars.

The work has helped modern Indian communities rebuild their languages, Hopis use his work in their app that helps teach young children the language, and their culture, the Makah used his film to help understand their ceremonies around whaling and canoe building.

Curtis's photos are so universal that if you've ever seen an exhibit on a Native American group there was almost certainly a Curtis photo in the exhibit or on the program.

I think the most interesting thing he did was get at the truth of the Battle of Bighorn. He went to the site, interviewed Crow and Sioux participants and eye witnesses and reframed the whole event into the story we know today.

I highly recommend this if you're interested in the Pac NW, in photography, or in Native American culture.

Northwestern University has a full set online you can browse through: https://dc.library.northwestern.edu/items/2c3688e5-8d3b-4281-b20a-2bd99b436b89