This image is an interesting example of the photographic intersection between the postmortem portrait and the ethnographic genre. While the date of the image is unknown, it is from the collection of Sir Henry Wellcome, a famous philanthropist, entrepreneur and avid collector. The extended family pictured gathered around the casket is from the native Tsimshian tribe of the Alaska/British Columbia region.

It is unclear whether it was typical for a Tsimshian family to sit for a postmortem portrait. It is possible that the person who took this photograph was a visiting photographer with an interest in ethnographic documentation and knowledge of common postmortem photographic conventions.

Credit: National Archive Trust Administration, Pacific Alaska Region — Anchorage, ARC 297678

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