Not sure what to call this…Face Inspirations, I guess? Just some collages I made of Inuit/Alaska Native/First Nation/Native American people that remind me of Water Tribe characters. Think of it as reference pictures for any realistic fanart you may want to do.
The Lomen Brothers had a photography business in Nome and I recognize two photos in this collage from their archives
The Univerity of Alaska Fairbanks’ online archives are also a good place to look. They even have some bits of footage on youtube if that’s of interest to anyone
Re-blogging, because I’m bad at citing my sources. Here are some names and sources for each collage. Here are the people used in Yue’s “Face Inspirations”:
This first picture is of Dayle Cole, who is of Gwich’in descent. This picture was taken in 2018, when she was 13-years-old. She can speak the Gwich’in language of Dinjii Zhu’ Ginjik and hails from Tsiigehtchic, the Gwichya Gwich'in First Nation located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community was formerly known as Arctic Red River until April 1st 1994.
This second picture is a famous photograph known as “Madonna of the North”. The photo was taken in 1912 in Nome, Alaska by H.G. Kaiser. Unfortunately, the woman photographed remains unidentified.
This picture if of Amber Midthunder. She is an actress of Hunkpapa Lakota, Hudeshabina Nakoda, Sissiton Dakota, and Chinese ancestry.
This picture is a famous photograph known as “Obleka”. I’m not sure if Obleka is the woman’s name or if it’s an Inupiaq word describing the picture. The photo was taken in 1907 in Nome, Alaska by Frank H. Nowell.
The final picture is of Eva Akpalialuk. In 1981, GQ (Gentlemen’s Quarterly magazine) came to Pangnirting, Canada to model modern cold-weather clothing. On the last day, they did a shoot of Inuit in traditional caribou clothing. This lovely photo of Eva was taken by Nick Newberry.
Adding Quannah Chasinghorse to the face inspos! Quannah is an American model and activist. She is of Sicangu Lakota and Hän Gwich'in ancestry. She’s worked with huge brands such as Calvin Klein and uses her platform to bring attention to Indigenous issues and environmental conservation.