The Santa Fe Fiesta and the Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial are two of the major cultural events held annually in New Mexico, both involving substantial participation by the Indian population of the state and region. The older of these, the Fiesta, originated in 1712 when the Spanish governor, the Marqués of Pañuela, set aside a day in September to commemorate the reconquest of the province by Don Diego de Vargas. Since 1919, the festival has been held annually and has increasingly become a celebration of traditional New Mexican culture and the varied ethnicities of its population. The Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial of Gallup, New Mexico, was organized by local businessmen and Indian traders in 1922 for "the encouragement of Indian arts and crafts and the education of whites to the beauties of Indian life" and for the "perpetuation of the dances, traditions and customs of Indian life." The H. O. Hanson Photograph Collection contains 34 large format (8x10") black and white prints, including sixteen images of the Inter-Tribal Ceremonial at Gallup, 1953 and 1954, four images of the Jemez Pueblo, and nine images of the Santa Fe Fiesta, 1952 and 1953. Hanson has not been further identified, but he may have worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Alfred Irving ("Pete") Hallowell was an anthropologist best known for his studies of Ojibwa culture and world-view, and the innovative use of the Rorschach Test in his studies of the psychological interrelations of individuals and their culture. Early in his career, Hallowell worked as a social case worker for Family Service, and even after moving on to study anthropology in 1920 (M.A.), he carried with him an interest in ethnic and racial culture, developing additional interests in psychological testing. Except for the years 1944-1947, when he taught at Northwestern University, Hallowell spent his entire career at the University of Pennsylvania where he was professor of anthropology, professor of anthropological psychiatry in the Medical School, and curator of social anthropology at the University Museum. A cultural anthropologist, Hallowell's use of clinical psychological methods, especially Rorschach tests, was both innovative and controversial in his discipline. In his research, he concentrated on the Algonkian Indians, especially the Abenaki and Ojibwa Indians of Canada and Wisconsin (Berens River, Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin areas), and the Saulteaux of Berens River. The Alfred Irving Hallowell Papers (1892-1981) contain correspondence, subject files, manuscripts of published and unpublished works by Hallowell, papers by colleagues and students, research notes kept by Hallowell, with a special emphasis on social organization, personality, behavior, psychology, religion, and folklore. The collection of several hundred photographs provides rich graphic documentation of Hallowell's work among the Ojibwa and Abnaki Indians during the 1930s.