IDNO

LS.26710.WHI

Description

On catalogue card: "N.W. Amazon. 175.14 - 16.
14. River view, with canoe.
15. Capt Whiffen in canoe, w. natives.
16. ? Capt. Whiffen's camp.
(3 slides)."

Captain Whiffen with a small group of South American Indian men, paddling a canoe on the Kahuinari River at "sunrise". Whiffen is seated at the stern, with a Union Jack flag. [TC 09/06/1999]

Place

S America; Colombia; North West Amazon; Kahuinari River

Cultural Affliation

English; British; European; South American Indian

Named Person

Thomas William Whiffen

Photographer

None

Collector / Expedition

Date

1908 - 1909

Collection Name

Whiffen CollectionTeaching Slide Collection

Source

Whiffen, Nöel H.

Format

Lantern Slide Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

See LS.26709.WHI record for notes about canoes.

Related Image: A duplicate print is at the RAI, reference 36186, and annotated by Whiffen in pencil on the reverse as "Sunrise in the Kahuinari. Self."
Photocopies of Whiffen prints at the RAI are in the UCMAA archive, reference W19/1/3. See Whiffen Collection record for further details on RAI collection. [TC 09/06/1999, updated JD 02/10/2019]

The men depicted are probably some of Whiffen’s "carriers", as described in Whiffen, T. W., 1915 (pp. 2-4). He explains that at the beginning of his expedition he "collected eight Indian carriers, two half-castes, and eight "rationales", or semi-civilised Indians, armed with Winchesters, together with three Indian women, wives of three of the rationales" (ibid: 3).

Source: In MAA Correspondence Box 1934 is a letter from Noel Whiffen donating his "brother's collection of lantern slides" to the museum, on behalf of the Whiffen family. Louis Clarke replied. The gift is also noted in the annual report for that year in the list of accessions (UCMAA 1934: 3), which mentions that "the collection of lantern slides has also been increased by gifts from ... Mr N. H. Whiffen ... "
For full details see Whiffen Collection record. [TC 09/06/1999, updated, JD 02/10/2019]