This collection consists of approx. 9000 images taken by John Brown McKinley from the early 1920s to 1980s, consisting of a variety of formats including b&w prints, nitrate negatives (ca. 1920s), hand-colored photos. and prints, postcards, color slides, negatives and photographs. Main subjects include the Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial in Gallup, N.M., and the Indian Fair and parade in Window Rock, Arizona. Included are many unidentified portraits of event participants and local residents. Other subjects represented in the collection include archaeological ruins, Pueblo architecture, missions and churches, landscapes and geological formations in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Utah. McKinley was born in Gallup, N.M. territory in 1907. He attended and photographed the first Inter-tribal Ceremonial in 1922 and pursued a lifelong interest in photography. Many early postcards and prints focus on aspects of the Inter-tribal Ceremonial, including the procession through town with horse-drawn wagons, dance performances, tug-o-war and chicken pull competitions. Native Americans represented in the collection include Hopi, Kiowa, Navajo and Pueblo peoples of Acoma, Laguna, Santa Clara, Tesuque and Zuni Pueblos. As McKinley attended nearly every ceremonial until his death in 1999 and continued to photograph until the mid-1980s, the collection represents a rich historical resource on the Inter-tribal ceremonial. McKinley traveled extensively throughout New Mexico and Arizona, producing portraits of Navajo individuals and families, hogans, subsistence activities (sheep ranching, baking bread) and arts and crafts (weaving, silver smithing). Most of the portraits are unidentified, although a number of individuals are identified including Geronimo and a group portrait of Navajo scouts who fought against him, Kitoni (Navajo Chief), Hoski Yashe (at 109 years old), Pearl Monetathehi (actress), Henry Tenaewah (Kiowa), John Mah-kewa, and Betty Ami (Hopi). The collection also illustrates McKinley's passion for photographing ancient ruins, Pueblo architecture, landscapes and cloud formations throughout the Southwest, including Zuni and Walpi Pueblos, Canyon de Chelly, Mesa Verde, Pyramid Red Rocks, Window Rock, Ariz. and Monument Valley, Utah.
