The ONWARD Project, an education-based nonprofit, is seeking stories sparked by the photographs related to the historic 1930’s Rainbow Bridge Monument Valley Expedition, the focus of our project. Our mission is to revitalize this history, story by story, in order to compile a more inclusive narrative of the past. Ask yourself; do you recognize this face? Do you recognize the landscape or any other aspect of this image? If so, what is your connection to this image? Contribute information by clicking on the images and replying using the form.
During previous outreach we were told that this man was possibly a scout, a sheep herder, or on the passage to becoming a medicine man. The writing on this photo shows information written by community members in outreach at Navajo Nation.
A version of this image appears in “Navajos, Gods, and Tom-toms,” (1950) by Suren Babington. He notes that this photo is of a Navajo man drying is hair.
Photo by Expedition member, Suren Babington.
Courtesy of Andy Christenson.