Visual Fieldnotes from Fort Rupert: Studies of Kwakiutl Dance and Movement by Franz Boas

FAIN: FT-60255-12

Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse
University of Washington (Seattle, WA 98195-1016)

Franz Boas's 1930 films of Kwakiutl activities are early documents of visual anthropology and are the only films made by Boas, whose fieldwork methods established twentieth century anthropology in America. A recently-discovered manuscript on Kwakiutl dance and gesture by Boas daughter, Franziska, is based on these films and is one of the earliest documents in dance ethnology. It is unknown to scholars, existing only as a rumored production but one lost to history. The film's publication as a DVD with an accompanying volume of essays will include: this manuscript by Franziska Boas, edited in collaboration with Kwakiutl Band members; my essay on the film's making and editorial history; as well as interviews with contemporary Kwagiulth dancers and descendants of the film's participants. This project aims to redress colonial histories of anthropological takings by ensuring that the community of origin has copies of all archival material and an active role in the final publication.