Historic photos of Native Americans

Edward S. Curtis Collection/Library of Congress

In the early 20th century Edward S. Curtis embarked on a 30-year mission he described as an effort "to form a comprehensive and permanent record of all the important tribes of the United States and Alaska that still retain to a considerable degree their ... customs and traditions." Curtis visited more than 80 tribes across the country, and north into Alaska and parts of Canada, eventually taking more than 40,000 photographs.

When Curtis died in 1952, his work was largely forgotten, but is now recognized as one of the most significant records of Native American culture ever produced.

Pictured here is Three Horses, taken around 1905.

Navaho child, c. 1904