Thanks for the thread, G_j.

Exposure times were longer, so photographers would instruct their subjects to stare off into nothingness. Unfocused eyes are less likely to look around the room, reducing motion blur in the photographs.

TYY

I feel like I can see the anguish and loss they felt when I look them in the eye. It is hard to do for too long.

K&R

I have yet to see a very early photo of a bald Native American.
Baldness is inherited. Is there any other group of people who do not have baldness as a trait?

the lack of baldness among Native Americans is probably due to a so-called "founder effect" (baldness not being a trait carried by the people who crossed the Bering land bridge, or that wasn't passed along). Baldness is found among the populations probably ancestral to Native Americans in Siberia.

thank you!

There were two brothers at my high school who were put up for adoption from that tribe. Their parents told them they were French Canadian and they did not learn of their true heritage until their parents died and they were looking through some legal documents stored away.

The elder brother had a rock cover band at the time but he soon switched to native m usic and now his band is a pretty big deal in the Black Hills area and across other parts of the country as well.