"Exhibited as a savage"

I recently read The Only Good Indian: The Hollywood Gospel by Ralph and Natasha Friar. Published in 1972, it's a good history of Indians in Hollywood until that point. It focuses on movies, as most books of this type do. It's especially strong on the Wild West and traveling medicine shows that preceded the movies, as well as the early years of the movie industry.

I'll post a few fun facts from the book to pass the time. And to keep my blog streak going, since I don't think I've missed a day since I started.

Today's excerpt from the book shows how Indians have protested media stereotypes almost since the beginning:At the 1913 conference of the Society of American Indians, a Sioux, Chauncey Yellow Robe, was one who spoke out:Is there anyone here that will tell me that the Wild West Show is a good thing for the Indian?...What benefit has the Indian derived from these Wild West Shows? None....[T]he Indian Bureau under our government is constantly encouraging the Indian to degenerate by permitting hundreds of them to leave their homes for fraudulent savage demonstrations before the world....We see the Indian. He is pictured in the lowest degree of humanity. He is exhibited as a savage in every motion picture theatre in the country.

"Circling the wagons" = phony

Circling the Wagons

Like the present, the past is alive with controversy.

By James W. LoewenImages matter—especially on historic monuments and memorials. Many monuments follow an artistic convention known as hieratic scale—hier as in hierarchy. All across America they depict whites in dominant positions over American Indians. In front of Ysleta Mission in El Paso, Texas, is a monument put up by the Knights of Columbus that features an American Indian kneeling at the feet of a conquistador. On the grounds of the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield stands Father Menard—again, with an Indian depicted in subservience. Further east, in Plattsburgh, N.Y., Samuel de Champlain towers on a pedestal above an obsequious native.

Sometimes the pressure to conform to this convention has been so strong that it muddles the stories artists seek to tell. Facing west from the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines are three figures titled The Pioneers. The artist meant them to represent a “father and son guided by a friendly Indian.” But such is the power of hieratic scale that the sculptor has shown the Indian seated subserviently looking off to the side, while the white man stands gazing capably ahead. No visitor would guess that the Indian was meant to be the guide of the group.

And that’s a shame, because the historical commonplace of Indian as guide to westering pioneers is a concept not very familiar to most Americans. We’ve all been influenced by the archetype of the whoop­ing Indians riding around and around the wagon train, circled for protection. It turns out that this scenario probably never happened either—even once. Of course, a moment’s thought makes evident its silliness: Why would anyone ride around and around, trying haplessly to fire accurately from his bouncing steed, while presenting such a tempting broadside target to John Wayne, lying prone with both elbows braced for best aim?

In reality, Indians rode around and around because they were in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and its many imitators, and they were performing in circus tents. Circus tents are round. In the real West, not only did Indians not ride around and around, they were much more likely to make money off the newcomers by selling them fish, helping them ford the river, or, as in Des Moines, hiring on as guide. But we don’t learn that from most movies—or from most historic sites.

Plains riders in Paris Disneyland

Natives in Paris: Meet the Bareback Riders Keeping it Real for Disney

By Dominique GodrecheDisney Village, located one hour from Paris, is, by French standards, huge, with its 7 hotels and 27-hole golf course. It contains Disneyland Park, which like other Disney parks contains the familiar "Lands"--including Frontierland, a theme-park version of the Wild West complete with southwest architecture, horse carriages, saloons, and some Native-influenced crafts and decorative items. But the real place where visitors to get the feeling of Native ambiance is the Wild West Show, due to the presence of Native American riders from different tribes, performing among a multi-cultural team of actors, riders, and racers.

"We hire Natives for their riding skills, because we want the show about Buffalo Bill to look authentic, and the public to believe in it," says Philippe Renaud, the casting director. "So we need the roles to be credible: Natives know how to ride bareback, and very few riders do in Europe. Songs and dances have to look true. That is why we go to the United States and Canada, in search of that authenticity”.

Upon entering the wooden theater, built by the architect Frank Gehry, the visitor is offered a cowboy hat. Original posters from Buffalo Bill’s European tours, old flags, tomahawks, Winchester rifles adorn the walls of a saloon where a live band gives a flavor of the Wild West. Spectators are led in groups to the different parts of the arena: Gold Star, Red River, Blue Moon, Green Mountain Ranch. Buffalo Bill makes an impressive entrance, followed by cowboys; this sets the stage for the spectacular arrival of Sitting Bull and the Native riders. The Natives wear traditional outfits, perform dances and songs, and race bareback. The vast arena becomes a dining room, and serves meals in the Tex-Mex tradition. Since its creation in 1992, the Wild West Show has attracted 9 million spectators.

"We hire mostly Blackfeet, Crows from Montana, Lakotas from south Dakota, Crees from Canada, and Navajos from New Mexico," explains Renaud. "We only visit the reservations where we've stayed in touch with Disney’s ex-riders. From 20 candidates, we select three, usually from tribes where horses are part of their culture.”Comment:  At least one of the riders--the Navajo Hogue in a Plains headdress--is grossly stereotypical. I don't know about the other riders and their outfits.

Do they need to be wearing traditional outfits at all? Would it shock audiences to see modern Indians in work shirts, jeans, and cowboy hats--the clothing they undoubtedly wear on the job and in rodeos? I guess so.

The article doesn't say much about what the performers do other than ride horses. But Disney's focus on the horse cultures of the Plains is arguably stereotypical even if the shows are accurate. Wild West shows have presented a one-dimensional view of Indians since the 19th century, and this doesn't sound much different.

For more on Wild West shows, see Movie Ledger on History Detectives and Indians Displayed in "Human Zoos."

Below:  "Colten Buffalo, Shawn Hogue, and Timothy Reevis in costume for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show at Disneyland Paris." (Dominique Godreche)

Movie ledger on History Detectives

Here's a segment from the PBS series History Detectives that aired 10/11/11:

Ince LedgerThe Case:

Who were "Two Lance and Wife" and "Luke Big Turnip and Wife?" And why did the New York Motion Picture Company pay them between $7.50 and $9.50 a week?

Two Castaic, CA teens found a 1915 ledger in their great grandfather's attic after he passed away. They found the names of more than thirty American Indians listed in this ledger.

The young ladies turn to History Detectives host Eduardo Pagán to find out more about these Native Americans. How did they earn their pay? And were they treated fairly?Comment:  You can watch the episode or read the transcript online.

The answer to the main questions is: They were Native actors paid to perform in early Hollywood Westerns. Obviously.

The segment provides some insight into how Natives became actors. When Westerns started growing more sophisticated, producers sought real Indians to play the stereotypical savages. Agents found Native performers in Wild West shows and sent them to Hollywood.

For more on History Detectives, see Modoc Basket on History Detectives and Modoc War on History Detectives.

Indians displayed in "human zoos"

Human Zoo:  For Centuries, Indigenous Peoples Were Displayed as Novelties

By Sara ShahriariIn 1893 a group of indigenous Aymara Bolivian men traveled to the United States so that they could be put on display at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair Columbian Exposition, which celebrated the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival in the Americas. While researching their story, Nancy Egan, a doctoral student in Latin American history at the University of California, San Diego, delved into the history of indigenous people brought to the United States and Europe and put on display in what she calls “human zoos.”

ICTMN:  Indigenous people from all over the world were brought to the United States and Europe and displayed at fairs and circuses during the 1800s and 1900s. Why were these displays so popular?

Egan:  Most historians who study these exhibitions agree they were a way of reinforcing or illustrating the racist notions of white supremacy that seemed to be built into the logic of empire and colonialism. Most nations took great care to try and mold the people they put on display into images that justified their own colonial power. In some cases this meant trying to create “savages.” In other cases, they tried to use these displays of human beings to illustrate how the colonial presence was “civilizing” people. These exhibits also played into other forms of popular entertainment. They were a mix of imperial ambition and circus.

How was what Mamani and his companions went through similar to the experience of other “imported” indigenous people who came to the United States?

Their story definitely sounds exceptional, but what’s really shocking about the history of these “human zoos” is that it isn’t. One study I read estimated that more than 25,000 indigenous people were brought to fairs around the world between 1880 and 1930. These people struggled under harsh and changing conditions. Many of them had to change their hair, their clothes, their entire appearance to fit the expectations of the organizers and the audiences they were supposed to perform for. Some people were the targets of racist violence while they were on display, while others experienced more subtle forms of violence and were used as subjects of scientific study on racial differences during the exhibition. And, like Mamani, many people died during these exhibitions.Comment:  For more on the subject, see 19th-Century Cartoons About Indians and Heartsong Lectures and Concert.

Below:  "A group of Iroquois Native Americans pose at an exposition in France c. 1905.

Heartsong lectures and concert

'Heartsong of Charging Elk' inspires lectures and concertThe symposium will explore the themes of displacement, intercultural collision and accommodation in Welch’s last novel about Lakota warriors transported to France in the late 19th century by “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” show as players of themselves. The event also will celebrate the work of the late, 20th century writer and Blackfeet/Gros Ventre.

The lecture series will include talks by: noted Plains Indian anthropologist, linguist and editor of “Black Elk Speaks,” Raymond J. DeMallie; historian of the American West and author of “Buffalo Bill’s America,” Louis S. Warren; Native American studies professor and author of the forthcoming “’Killed Beyond Recognition:’ The Writings of James Welch,” Kathryn W. Shanley (Assiniboine-Sioux); and a conversation about the novel with Lois Welch, professor emerita of English, research collaborator and life partner of the late author.

The week will conclude with an original musical performance of “The Heartsong of Charging Elk” for four voices and a 10-piece chamber ensemble by internationally acclaimed Seattle composer and musician Wayne Horvitz, composer/songwriter Robin Holcomb and Pulitzer finalist, writer/director Rinde Eckert.Comment:  For more on James Welch, see Welch's Book to Become Movie.

Wild West Show billboard found

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show billboard found under Mankato home's siding

By Brian OjanpaWorkers ripped the siding from a circa 1880 house in Mankato and Old West history burst forth.

Tattered from more than a century’s worth of wear, the large billboard montage once touted the Mankato appearance of a world-famous entertainment extravaganza—Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.And:On the basis of the billboard’s references, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wy., determined the show’s Mankato appearance date was Sept. 2, 1899.

A headline in the Mankato Daily Free Press a few days later alluded to the performance, describing it as “Mankato Invaded by Indians, Filipinos, Mexicans and Other Picturesque People.”Comment:  The Daily Free Press headline is revealing. It sums up how people perceived Indians. To them, Indians, Filipinos, and Mexicans--i.e., anyone brown-skinned--was an invader encroaching on (white) American land.

Did they realize Indians once owned the whole continent and Mexicans owned a third of it? Probably not.

For more on the subject, see "Buffalo Bill and the Indians on the Beach" and Mythologizing the American West.

Below:  "Bits and pieces of a billboard uncovered Dec. 1, 2009 by workers re-siding an old house in Mankato, Minn., are from an 1899 billboard touting Buffalo Bill's Wild West show that performed in the community, Sept. 2, 1899. It is suspected that the billboard wasn't placed there as an advertisement but was used years ago as a make-shift housewrap." (AP Photo/John Cross, Mankato Free Press)

Review of Annie Oakley

PBS's American Experience, the series that gave us We Shall Remain, also took a look at "the first American woman to become a superstar."

Annie OakleyIn 1926, just a few months before her death, Will Rogers described Annie Oakley as "the greatest woman rifle shot the world has ever produced." As the star attraction of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, she thrilled audiences around the world with her daring shooting feats. Her act helped fuel turn-of-the-century nostalgia for the vanished, mythical world of the American West. Over time she became an American legend--the loud, brassy, cocksure shooter celebrated in the musical "Annie Get Your Gun." But that legend had little to do with the real Annie Oakley. Although famous as a Western sharpshooter, Oakley lived her entire life east of the Mississippi. A champion in a man's sport, she forever changed ideas about the abilities of women, yet she opposed female suffrage. Her fame and fortune came from her skill with guns, yet she was a Quaker. This probing American Experience production examines the dramatic life of a uniquely American icon whose complex character manifested many of the paradoxes of the nation.Film Description

The Wild West Show

For our purposes, the key portion of Oakley's life is her stint with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

TranscriptNARRATOR:  Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show was a lavish spectacle. Part melodrama, part circus, part rodeo. It offered a taste of life on the old frontier to an American that was rapidly industrializing.

In the crowded urban centers of the East, people flocked to Buffalo Bill’s show, eager for a glimpse of the Wild West.

PAUL FEES:  The whole world was fascinated with the West, and as it was becoming settled, those elements that were seen as the foundation of America’s uniqueness—the rugged individualism, and the adventure, and the conflict with Indians, and with buffalo, and all of those reckless parts of America’s past—seemed to be coming to an end. Buffalo Bill was a representative, a living representative, of that story, of that adventure. And it’s that adventure that he put into his Wild West Show.And:NARRATOR:  Frank became Annie's press agent, playing on the deep fascination Easterners had with the Old West. He advertised his Ohio-born wife as “The Girl of the Western Plains,” and he never tired of telling the story of the night Chief Sitting Bull, the old Sioux warrior, asked if he could adopt Annie after watching her shoot the ace of hearts out of a card at 30 paces.

DONALD FIXICO:  When Sitting Bull first saw she had these amazing abilities to handle a rifle, and her keen eyesight, then obviously she had some endowed power of some sort, that he recognized immediately. When Indian people look at such individuals that have been empowered like that, then we have the greatest respect.

NARRATOR:  Sitting Bull christened his new daughter “Watanya Cecilia: Little Sure Shot.” For a time he toured with Annie in Buffalo Bill’s show, but the great chief soon left, saying he had grown sick of "the noises and the multitudes of men."Some contemporary reviews of the Wild West in New York:Staten Island

Madison Square Garden

The New York Times, November 25, 1886

The third epoch ... is the cattle ranch, illustrating the cowboy in his glory, riding the bucking mustang and lassoing the bounding and bumptious steer. Suddenly comes the curdling whoop of the Comanchee and Kiowas, led by Seven-Fleas, Son-of-a-Gun, Loaded-for-Bear, Busted-Flush, Peach-Blow-Spittoon, Two-Buckets-of-Red-Paint, and other famous chiefs, who go into the hair-raising business with a painstaking enthusiasm which fanned the audience to an uproar. Just at the most exciting point of the massacre, a troop of cowboys arrive and the noble red men are sent to the happy hunting grounds in a body.

BrooklynOakley's role as a proto-feminist: In a Man's World.

Comment:  Annie Oakley uses the same mix of talking heads, still photographs, and reenactments as in We Shall Remain. It's about as good as those documentaries.

Of particular interest are rare movies showing Oakley and the Wild West Show in action. I didn't know films of either existed, but they do.

One key point the documentary makes is that traveling shows such as Buffalo Bill's were a primary source of entertainment in the pre-motion picture era. The shows began dying out when Westerns began offering the same thrills in theaters.

It seems the Wild West Show was even more instrumental than I thought in forming America's perceptions of Indians. The Plains stereotypes migrated from reality to real Indians in stage shows to phony Indians on the screen.

For more on the subject, see A Brief History of Native Stereotypes.