A new exhibit at the Manitou Springs Heritage Center and Museum will blend the past and present impact of Indigenous communities in the West.

The center will debut the exhibit Friday, showcasing the historic work of Western photographers E.S. Curtis and Roland Reed, as well as the work of contemporary Indigenous artists.

Curtis and Reed were two photographers who photographed thousands of individuals across the West during the late 19th and early 20th century.

Their photos, sometimes criticized for being staged, still serve as documented record of Indigenous groups, also used to trace ancestry. Prior to building the exhibit, the Heritage Center consulted with the Sacred Tree Council, a local Indigenous organization.

“We had sought out the consultation and the advice of the Sacred Tree Council before exhibiting this thing, due to the sensitive nature of the Western photographers,” said Michael Maio, president of the Heritage Center. “If you think about it, this photography is the only record we have of capturing the history of these tribes, as well as showing how they dressed, where they lived and everything else.”

The exhibition also will display the work of four present-day Indigenous photographers, including filmmaker and lecturer Larry Cesspooch, who will be leading the exhibit’s opening ceremony Friday.

Other artists include Arizona-based Amanda Jones, a Navajo photographer, and the late Kenneth Frost, whose work focused on the Dakota Pipeline protests. Local Native American photographer Manuel Pulido will showcase several pieces within the exhibit.

“We’re trying to show that although our cultures and backgrounds are different in many ways, they’re also alike in many ways. I think the contemporary photographers have aptly shown that,” Maio said.

“The Pass Finders” by Roland Reed, left, and “Signs of the Times” by Manuel Pulido, above, will be included in the Manitou Springs Heritage Center’s new exhibit. (photos Courtesy of the Manitou Springs

Heritage Center and Museum)