The show featured a live soundtrack performed by a small orchestra, which played music inspired by Native American chants and rhythms.
Despite the fairly positive reviews by the newspapers, the 1911-1912 and 1912-1913 tours were unprofitable due to the costs associated with travelling the country with a show of their size and fees to be paid along the way such as payments to the venue owners, transport for the orchestra crew, food and supplies, advertising etc.
The opera would reenforce racial stereotypes associated with Natives due to Curtis's tendency to show them as a race entirely different from the white population so as to make them feel unique which led to many concluding them to be uncivilised compared to themselves.
[3] Curtis's influence extended beyond his lifetime, and his visual documentation of Native American tribes continues to be referenced in cultural and academic discussions.
Following the success of The Indian Picture Opera, Curtis went on to produce and direct In the Land of the Head Hunters in 1914, one of the first feature-length films to star an entirely Native American cast.