William R. Heick photographs

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sova.nmai.ac.354

Culture: Kashaya Pomo; Diné (Navajo); Pikuni (Piegan) [Blackfeet Nation, Browning, Montana]; Hupa; Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl)

Summary: This collection includes 56 oversize photographs taken by William R. Heick between 1951 and 1962 among the Diné, Pomo, Pikuni, Hupa, and Kwakwake'wakw communities.

Biographical / Historical: William Heick (1916-2012) was a photographer and filmmaker known for his work document Indigenous peoples in North America. He was born in Kentucky and attended the University of Cincinnati. Heick's photography career started during World War II when he served as a naval intelligence photographer. He went on to study photography at the California School of Fine Arts. In 1951, he visited the Kwakiutl Nation in British Colombia and developed an interest in Native people. He worked for the American Indian Film Project based out of Berkeley, collaborating with community elders to preserve traditions on film. Outside of his work with Indigenous communities, Heick was a historian and filmmaker for the Bechtel engineering firm, created two documentaries for the Quakers, and produced short series on cultural practices throughout the world. Heick continued working until his death in 2012.

Citation: Identification of specific item; Date (if known); William R. Heick photographs, image #, NMAI.AC.354; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Arrangement: Arranged into five series alphabetically by tribe then catalog number.

Processing Information: Collection processed by Mattie Lewis, Archives Technician in 2025.

Rights: Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.

Scope and Contents: This collection contains 46 oversize black and white photographs and 10 oversize color photographs taken by William Heick and his students across the United States and Canada. The photographs were taken at the same time Heick was working with the American Indian Film Project, led by Samuel Barrett and Dr. Alfred Kroeber. Additional photographs and the corresponding films are available at Berkeley through the Northern Regional Library Facility, the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Image numbers P27947-P28000. The Diné photographs are restricted for cultural sensitivity.

Restrictions: Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).

NMAI.AC.354

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv47f79f479-55a1-4827-8034-98e624d2ec0b

NMAI.AC.354

NMAIA