Charles G. Johnson, Albumen Print Of A Yuma Indian, Arizona, 1868

This photograph shows a Yuma Indian (or Quechan) sitting with his face painted and his nose pierced with an ornament. The Yuma people, originally from Arizona, traditionally live on the banks of the Colorado River.

Very few photographs document these communities: while a few shots by Elias E. Bonine have survived, images by Charles Granville Johnson (1832–1914) remain particularly rare. An album of photographs taken by Johnson during a trip in 1868 is now preserved at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. It contains a collection of views of Arizona and the Colorado River, as well as rare photographs of Indians living along its banks. The photograph presented here does not appear in the album.
Albumen print mounted on cardboard in visiting card format with a caption printed in English in a banner below the image.
Good condition, small pale spots.

Album reference: https://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15150coll2/id/9241/rec/1