Minden photographer Nancy Raven holds a small copy of one of the photos on display at the Douglas County Historical Society.
GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — A photography show by Minden, Nevada, artist Nancy Raven highlights an often-overlooked population in the Carson Valley — the Washoe people.
Raven captured images of some of the Valley’s oldest native citizens in a series of portraits she is displaying at the Douglas County Historical Society.
The show, titled “Tribal Elders,” opened in June and runs through July 21. It features about three dozen 11×14 matted and framed portraits of Washoe elders, both in black and white and in color.
“I feel so strongly these beautiful people need to be remembered somehow,” said Raven, 88, of Minden. “There are so many elders who won’t be around much longer.”
Raven started the project about a year ago. She visited local reservations and started asking people if they were interested in being photographed.
She said reception was cool at first, but after one woman agreed and invited her to her home, others soon followed in consenting.
“Once they saw how it was going to be done, they began to take an interest,” she said.
Raven repaid anyone willing to have their portrait taken with color and black and white copies of the images.
The project is not Raven’s first foray into preserving Native American history. In 2008 her book “Wuzzie Comes to Camp,” profiling a Paiute woman named Wuzzie George, was published.
“I got hooked on the Nevada native American tradition,” she said. “It’s important to pay attention to the elders and honor them and our native people generally.”
Since completing this project, more Washoe people have contacted her, and she hopes to compile enough portraits to do a second show next year, she said. She also hopes to show the images at other local venues.
This article has been adapted from a previous version that published in The Record-Courier newspaper in June 2017.