top of page
Writer's pictureJohn Graybill

Anna Nashoalook Ellis



How would you feel if you were about to meet someone who was actually in a Curtis image? Pretty darned excited, I bet!! 


John and Coleen traveled to Orlando Florida to meet Anna Nashoalook Ellis, 94, who was in a Curtis photograph at the age of just three years old. In 1927 Edward was on his last trip to finish his 20th volume for the North American Indian and met the Nashoalook family. Anna’s parents, Joe and Olah, spoke not only Inupiat, but Russian and English, making it easy for Curtis to communicate with them. Joe was the last to be Chief of the Inupiat Nation. 


More of Anna’s story to come!

bottom of page