Reaction to Curtis Collection

Obviously I can appreciate these images purely as art; they are beautiful and unique and clearly well done. But, looking at these images as a historian, I can't help but feel like Curtis missed an opportunity to truly document the "Vanishing American Indian." That is, rather than stage the romanticized view of Native American culture, he could have done something really great by documenting the current state of the Indians at the time he was conducting his project. We already know the romanticized image of the American Indian. We've seen them in their traditional garb and headdress. What we haven't seen is just how they've vanished and to what extent they've assimilated.
In the book of images that Professor Irmscher showed us that came as a reaction to the staged photographs taken by Curtis, I was extremely intrigued by the photograph of the Native American woman at the beauty parlor getting her nails and hair done. I cannot decide if this image is a symbol more of all that we've lost, or all that we've gained in terms of Native American culture. Is the assimilation of Native Americans into American culture a good thing? I don't have a definitive answer. On one hand, it is important not to force segregation upon Native Americans by assuming that they cannot or should not assimilate. But, at the same time, the assimilation of Native Americans does symbolize certain aspects of a culture being lost.
I really don't have a concrete answer as to how I feel about Curtis' photographs, but they definitely prompted me to think more about the photographs themselves as well as the overall concept of imperialism and what it means to invade another person's land. I wish there had been an incentive to document the lives and cultures of American Indians 100 years prior to Curtis' project, so we could have an authentic representation of their culture as opposed to the incredibly posed and thus false pictures that Curtis produced. The Curtis collection definitely is artistic and I enjoy simply looking at the photos, but I cannot help but grieve for the lack of truth we as a society have about Native Americans and their experiences since America was settled. By the time Curtis got around to it, the culture he was trying to portray had already died out and undergone huge changes. It would have done Native Americans more justice to document this pseudo-assimilated culture of the early 20th century rather than attempt to resurrect the past, before this culture too would disappear.