"Out of the Shadows" showing event.
By ROSELYNN YAZZIE
Sho-Ban News
POCATELLO — Many tribal members were among the crowd for the screening of “Out of the Shadows” hosted by Idaho Public Television and the Idaho Museum of Natural History at Idaho State University on Tuesday night, November 12.
The “Out of the Shadows” documentary tells the story of two female photographers in Idaho, Benedicte Wrensted and Jane Gay, at the turn of the 20th century who took photos of members of the Shoshone and Bannock Tribes and the Nez Perce.
Wrensted moved to Pocatello from Denmark and had her own studio, which was formerly located on what is now known as Old Town Main Street. She invited members of the tribe to come and have their portraits taken. The Idaho Museum of natural History (IMNH) has a collection of her glass negatives and displayed one during the reception after the film.
Gay went to the Nez Perce Reservation to document the work of her friend, anthropologist Alice Fletcher, who was carrying out the mandate of the Dawes Act, which forced tribal people to give up their lands in exchange for 160-acre plots.
Clyde Hall looks at an original Benedicte Wrensted glass negative
in the IMNH collection.
The film also highlights producer Marcia Franklin, who tells their stories and gets the perspective of tribal members who talk about the photographs, as well as features modern day women photographers, including local tribal photographer Necha Mendoza.
Dr. Leif Tapanila, director of IMNH, welcomed everyone to the ISU campus and acknowledged it as the traditional territory of the Shoshone and Bannock peoples. He also said for the 85th year it is also the home of IMNH. Their mission is to inspire appreciation and curiosity for Idaho’s history, which they do through exploration and preservation.
“I firmly believe that recording and preserving our past is absolutely critical to appreciate the context to provide purpose and meaning to our everyday lives and it’s a really important thing to do,” he said.
Marcia Franklin thanked everyone for all their help on the film. She talked about the importance of archivist and how the project would not have been possible without the help of the tribes. She acknowledged the work of Shoshone-Bannock tribal member Bonnie Wuttunee-Wadsworth who helped in identifying many of the individuals in Wrensted’s photos and who also wrote the forward in “A Danish Photographer of Idaho Indians: Benedicte Wrensted” book. She also acknowledged Randy’L Teton, Rosemary Devinney, Louise Dixey, and Mendoza for sharing their help and wisdom.
Tribal members at the IMNH reception after the screening of "Out of the Shadows."
Franklin was inspired to make the documentary after seeing two social media posts featuring the two women separately, she recognized their similarities and wanted to bring them together.
During the reception at IMNH the audience was able to view a collection of Wrensted’s photography as well as a historical clothing collection from the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes curated by tribal member Yvette Tuell and the Language and Culture Department. Refreshments were served, which included pemmican and chokecherry pudding.