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Legacy Preservation Project
They Were Already Here

A Photographic Record

North American Natives— before and after colonization.  Faces of North America & Canada . They're not artifacts. They're PROOF.

American Lipan Apache — United States, c. 1800s. Historical indigenous portrait in traditional regalia.

American Lipan Apache — United States, c. 1800s. A dignified portrait of a people whose presence on this land predates every border drawn around them.

© Legacy Preservation Project Archive

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Indigenous woman with long dark hair, beaded necklace and patterned shawl — sepia portrait

Indigenous Woman — Beaded Necklace & Shawl

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Edward S. Curtis — North American Indian in full feathered headdress and ceremonial regalia, sepia portrait

Edward S. Curtis — North American Indian

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Indigenous North American child in traditional regalia with disc earrings

Indigenous Child — Regalia Portrait

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Edward S. Curtis — A Mixed-Blood Coast Pomo woman, long dark hair, dignified close portrait, sepia photogravure 1924

A Mixed-Blood Coast Pomo

© Edward S. Curtis, 1924

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Historical sepia photograph of Indigenous warriors in full ceremonial beaded regalia holding spears

Warriors in Ceremonial Regalia

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Chilkat Indigenous woman with elaborate beaded collar, Sitka — historical portrait

Chilkat Woman — Sitka

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Indigenous North American couple in traditional dress

Indigenous Couple — Traditional Dress

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Indigenous North American child with bow and traditional clothing

Indigenous Child — Traditional Clothing

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Indigenous North American girls with braids in winter clothing

Indigenous Girls — Winter Portrait

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Three Indigenous women and girls in white dresses outdoors — historical photograph

Three Women — Historical Photograph

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Two Indigenous people standing before a colonial-era church — historical photograph

Before a Colonial-Era Church

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Indigenous North American elder woman, dignified portrait

Elder Woman — Dignified Portrait

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Indigenous North American man in ceremonial headdress and regalia

Young Man — Ceremonial Headdress

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Young Tonkawa woman, c. 1835 — historical portrait believed to be Frances Malone

Young Tonkawa woman c. 1835. Historical Portrait. Frances. Believed to be Frances Malone. Sold at 2024 Davis Brothers Auction.

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Four Indigenous children in traditional beaded regalia — stand up to the paper genocide of American Indians

Stand Up to the Paper Genocide

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Indigenous young woman with braids, beaded choker and earrings — historical portrait

Young Woman — Braids & Beaded Choker

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Mestizo and tri-racial Native American family — grandmother, mother, two boys — in traditional and Western dress, sepia portrait

Mestizo / Tri-Racial Native American Family

© Smithsonian Institution

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North American Indio family, c. 1800s — historical portrait documenting Indigenous family life before forced assimilation

North American Indio Family — c. 1800s. A family standing with dignity before the era of forced assimilation and paper genocide.

© Genealogist Mary Hall

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Edward S. Curtis — Kalispel Maiden, young Indigenous woman with shell disc earrings, beaded necklace and braids, sepia photogravure 1910

Kalispel Maiden

© Edward S. Curtis, 1910

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Historical group portrait of Indigenous North Americans in traditional regalia and dress

Indigenous North Americans — Formal Gathering

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Seminole Scout Charles Daniels and family — officially reclassified as Negro despite Indigenous heritage, historical photograph

Seminole Scout Charles Daniels & Family — “Reclassified Negro”

© Legacy Preservation Project Archive

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Melungeon man — triracial isolate community of Appalachian Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky — historical portrait

Melungeon Man — Appalachian Triracial Community

© Legacy Preservation Project Archive

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Sepia historical portrait of two Indigenous women seated together in traditional clothing

Two Indigenous Women — Historical Portrait

© Legacy Preservation Project Archive

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Historical Indigenous portrait from the Legacy Preservation Project archive

Historical Indigenous Portrait

© Legacy Preservation Project Archive

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Historical Indigenous photograph from the Legacy Preservation Project archive

Historical Indigenous Photograph

© Legacy Preservation Project Archive

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Historical Indigenous image from the Legacy Preservation Project archive

Historical Indigenous Image

© Legacy Preservation Project Archive

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Tonkawa siblings from East Central Texas, c. 1845

Tonkawa Siblings — East Central Texas, c. 1845

© Legacy Preservation Project Archive

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Native Tonkawa child, 1800s — public domain historical portrait

Native Tonkawa Child — 1800s

© Public Domain

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Historical Indigenous family portrait from the British Museum collection

British Museum Historical Indigenous Photo

© British Museum collection

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Historical black-and-white photograph of students and teachers at an early Oklahoma school

Early Oklahoma School — Students & Teachers

© Legacy Preservation Project Archive

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Mestizo family — possibly Caddo Nation, Texas — husband, wife, and infant in traditional dress, c. late 1800s

Mestizo Family — c. Late 1800s. United States. Husband, wife, and child in traditional dress. Possibly Caddo Nation, Texas — exact tribal origin unconfirmed. Shared in the spirit of honest preservation.

© Legacy Preservation Project Archive

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Native Americans before the Trail of Tears era, 1830s — family group portrait

Before the Trail of Tears, c. 1830s

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"They were not discovered. They were already home."

Legacy Preservation Project
Legacy Preservation Project

Honoring the past. Protecting what matters. Reconnecting families to the nations they descend from.

Communities We Serve

  • Indigenous & Tribal Nations
  • Free People of Color (FPOC)
  • Mestizo & Mixed-Heritage Families
  • Families Affected by Colonial Erasure

Our Organization

recipe4parenting.com

RECIPE INC — our parent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization

The Legacy Preservation Project operates as a program of RECIPE INC, a registered 501(c)(3) organization.

© 2026 Legacy Preservation Project — C.A.M. Provenzano. All rights reserved.
Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or use of any content, research, photographs, or written material from this site is strictly prohibited without express written permission.

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