On October 14, 2021, Doc Chat paid homage to a remarkable Inuit performer and considered how she appealed to and defied stereotypes as an Indigenous woman in modern American society.

A weekly series from NYPL's Center for Research in the Humanities, Doc Chat pairs an NYPL curator or specialist and a scholar to discuss evocative digitized items from the Library's collections and brainstorm innovative ways of teaching with them. In Episode 34, NYPL Librarian Emily Walz and Photography Curator Elizabeth Cronin were joined by historian Lisa Blee to examine the life and image of Inuit performer Nancy Columbia, also known as Columbia Eneutseak. The episode sought to honor the heritage of Indigenous people as well as to highlight lesser-known collections related to Indigenous history and featuring Indigenous voices.

Doc Chat Episode 34: Reframing Columbia Eneutseak, Decentering the Imperialist Gaze from The New York Public Library on Vimeo.

A transcript of this episode is available here.

Below are some handy links to materials and sources suggested in the episode.

Episode Thirty-Four: Primary Sources

This portrait of Nancy Columbia, along with the one at the top of this post, was taken by Frank Hamilton Nowell and served as the inspiration for the Doc Chat episode.

To glean background information on Nancy’s family, Elizabeth, Emily, and Lisa discussed this photograph of the Moravian station of Zoar, Labrador, 1894, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

In 1904, Nancy and her family participated in the St. Louis World’s Fair. Photographs of Ester, Columbia, and the Esquimaux group were taken by the Gerhard Sisters and are housed at the Library of Congress.

Five years later, Nancy and her family took part in the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition in Seattle, Washington.

On June 1, 1909, close to 80,000 people attended the opening day, held at the University of Washington campus in Seattle. For more digitized photographs of the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition taken by Nowell, see this collection in NYPL's Digital Collections.

Other repositories, including University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, hold photographs of the Exposition. Elizabeth, Emily, and Lisa examined two from the UW collection:

Frank Hamilton Nowell, “On the Pay Streak,” 1909

S.E. Meldrum, “Speeler at entrance to Eskimo Village,” 1909

Elizabeth, Emily, and Lisa also considered the portrayals of Nancy and her family by the photographer Otto D. Goetze:

“Eskimo family and their igloo from Labrador, Seattle, A.Y.P.E., 1909”, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

“Miss Columbia and her Mother from Labrador,” 1909, Museum of History and Industry, Seattle.

“Miss Columbia from Labrador - Seattle, A.Y.P.E. '09,” Museum of History and Industry, Seattle.

“Columbia & Daddy A.Y.P.E. Seattle Wash., 09, Museum of History and Industry, Seattle.

Episode Thirty-Four: Readings and Resources

Lisa Blee, “‘I came voluntarily to work, sing and dance’: Stories from the Eskimo Village at the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition” The Pacific Northwest Quarterly 101:3/4 (Summer/Fall 2010), 126-139.

Nicolette Bromberg and John Stamets, Picturing the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition: The Photographs of Frank H. Nowell (University of Washington Press, 2009).

Kenn Harper and Russell Potter, “Early Arctic Films of Nancy Columbia and Esther Eneutseak” Nimrod: The Journal of the Ernest Shackleton Autumn School 4 (October 2010).

J.C.H. King and Henrietta Lidchi, eds., Imaging the Arctic (British Museum Press, 1998).

Jim Zwick, Inuit Entertainers in the United States: from the World’s Fair Through the Birth of Hollywood (Infinity Publishing, 2006).

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Doc Chat episodes take place on Zoom every Thursday at 3:30 PM. Check out upcoming episodes on NYPL's calendar,  and make sure you don't miss an episode by signing up for NYPL's Research newsletter, which will include links to register. A video of each episode will be posted on the Doc Chat Channel of NYPL's blog shortly after the program. There you can also explore videos and resources for past episodes. See you at the next Doc Chat!