Paper short abstract:

The photo, which shows a colonial encounter between Santal “tribals” and Scandinavian missionaries, tells us of identity formation since the missionaries saw Santals as a nation. Yet, a closer look shows the Santals as untameable. Could the missionaries tailor the images sent to their sponsors ?.

Paper long abstract:

The photo I propose to explore displays a colonial frontier, a "tribal people"-the Santals - beyond the direct control of British India, and their encounter with missionaries from Scandinavia , on the periphery of Europe. This photo shows a colonial encounter where the missionaries who see themselves as representatives of progress and civilization appear in company of the natives they have decided to include. Some natives, identified in the Mission's archives, are close collaborators of the missionaries. I propose to elicit the story of this photograph in its own temporality. The most obvious message tells us of identity formation since the Santals were seen as a nation by the missionaries and this may be why the founder of the mission puts his arm on the chief's shoulder, as a token of reciprocity. Yet, a closer look at the other Santal characters unravel another story archives and leads us to another idea, the Santals are untameable. We shall confront this photograph with some others of the first converts : did the missionaries succeeded in tailoring the visual images they sent to their sponsoring institutions in Europe? While their letters reveal that they wanted to use photographs as tokens of their success, we understand that the photographs carried their own ambiguous message, leading us to a visual journey crossing the contradictions of missionary cosmopolitanism and parochialism.