Apache footage (1914) – Pliny Goddard and Howard McCormick

Women grinding and chucking maize, San Carlos, Arizona. Frame from Pliny Goddard’s 1914 Apache footage. AMNH Library Services neg. no.242693, reproduced in Griffiths 2002, p.295.

Not viewed. Duration and technical specifications unknown.

Source: American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)?

Background: In July and August 1914, the AMNH curator, Pliny Goddard, accompanied by artist and cameraman Howard McCormick, visited the Apache reservation in Arizona, equipped with a 35mm Ensign moving image camera.  Only limited information is readily available on the material that they shot. It is not even clear if the footage still exists.

Although accompanied by McCormick who had successfully filmed the Hopi Snake Dance at Supawlavi at Goddard’s request in 1912, Goddard appears to have done at least some of the filming himself. From his correspondence with colleagues at the AMNH, it is clear that his skills as a cinematographer were limited. 

It appears that he primarily focused on making films about “native industries”, i.e. technical processes, and food preparation. Topics mentioned include a single woman weaving a basket and a group of women chucking and grinding corn, as in the image above, shot in San Carlos.

Although Goddard would also have liked to film ceremonies, such as the initiation of an adolescent girl, which he attended in August 1914, he seems to have been unable to do so, though it is not clear whether this was due to technical limitations or refusal on the part of his hosts.

Text: Griffiths 2002: 294-297.

© 2018 Paul Henley