The portraits of the 1880 Apsáalooke delegation conform to the pseudoscientific formula Bell adopted when photographing delegates for the Bureau of Ethnology. As was common practice, Bell took one group portrait (see fig. 1) featuring all delegation members alongside US government officials, including agent Augustus Keller and two interpreters. While Bia Eélisaash stands—his stature and distinction palpable in his confident stance and solemn gaze—the five Mountain Apsáalooke delegates are seated in the front row, each wearing formal attire. From right to left, Déaxitchish, Alaxchiiaahush, and Iichiilachkash have their feet firmly planted on the ground holding axes in their laps. Peelatchiwaaxpáash adopts a similar pose but holds an eagle feather fan—a symbol of his leadership. In contrast, at far left, Peelatchixaaliash (Old Crow [Raven]) crosses his right leg over his left, resting one hand on his knee and the other on a cane to proudly display the fringe on his leggings and the ermine on his coat. As the eldest of the six delegates and the only one to have previously traveled to Washington, DC, his self-assured posture and steady gaze convey both his prominence and confidence.
With the exception of Iichiilachkash, who was only photographed with the larger group, each bacheeítche also sat for an individual portrait, which Bell took from multiple angles (see figs. 2–11). As in the group portrait, each delegate wore their formal Apsáalooke attire. Bringing these honorable outfits on their long, tiresome journey to and from Washington, DC, and wearing them in their portrait photographs must be understood as a deliberate choice—one aimed at conveying their status as leaders of a sovereign nation and equals to the president of the United States. In several of Bell’s three-quarter length views (see figs. 6, 8, 10), an ornately carved Victorian chair and the studio’s architectural moldings are visible, further underscoring the intercultural nature of this encounter. Bell’s approach to photographing Native delegations, combined with the government’s vast accumulation of these works alongside artifacts in anthropological archives, has contributed to the images being read—both in Bell’s time and in ours—as ethnographic documents of a type, rather than individualized portraits capable of conveying personal and cultural stories. This has often been confounded by the perceived stiffness and stoicism of the sitters. The delegates’ body language and facial expressions do not reflect their passivity in the picture-making process, but are instead the result of long exposure times, which required absolute stillness, and the established conventions of portrait photography, which called for sitters to adopt a serious appearance.52