[The end of day, Hopi boy herding horses and sheep across sand dunes, New Mexico]

Share

Curtis photographed this Hopi boy at the end of a working day, driving horses and sheep over the sand dunes of New Mexico. Hopi herding was part of a household economy in which children took on tasks like this early, and the dunes and long shadows make the landscape as much a subject as the boy himself. Edward S. Curtis, who spent decades documenting Native peoples of the American West, often posed and arranged his scenes, so the picture reflects both his artistic choices and the everyday rhythm of the work it shows.

More from the Horses collection

Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.