A Nez Perce woman, Ellen Compo stands at full length in this cabinet card portrait made by E. G. Cummings of Lewiston, Idaho, almost certainly in the 1880s or early 1890s, a period during which Cummings produced a significant body of studio portraiture of Native peoples in the Nez Perce country of northern Idaho.

She wears a heavily fringed hide dress and a boldly striped woven blanket cape, the latter detailed with broad horizontal bands in contrasting tones. Large circular disc earrings frame her face, and multiple strand necklaces layer across her chest. A beaded flat bag with a bold floral and botanical panel design hangs at her waist, and a striped blanket is draped over a studio prop at her right. Her long hair falls in two braids, and her expression is direct and composed.

Cummings operated in Lewiston, Idaho Territory and early Idaho statehood, situated at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers in the heart of Nez Perce homelands, giving his practice unusual access to Native subjects at a pivotal moment in the region's history.

The reverse bears a handwritten inscription in blue ink reading "Ellen Compo" and a penciled notation "475" in the upper right corner.Nez Perce woan,

From the collection of James Lee Soffer