1914 - The contrast between the morbid curiosity to see the red man as a savage in war-paint and the desire to see the Indian as a fellow human being... is a great advance.
by E.H. Gohi, (Tyagohwens) - adopted clansman of the Onondaga - published in the The Quarterly Journal of the Society of American Indians, Volume 2, page 226.
Theatrical agents invariably take from the reservations the very element that should remain at home, -- boys and girls still attending school, and adults who may have attained steady habits of study or industry in school, on the farm, or in the shop.
The smooth tempter and corrupter arrives on the reservation at the most opportune season, --- early spring, when, after the long and dull winter months have passed, the blood in the Indian begins to move, for pleasure, excitement, or work, like sap in the maple, -- and falls a ready victim to the briber. The Indian youth is thus robbed of the spring and fall months at school, and the adult is take from his farm or trade at the very time he should be in his field or at his bench in the shop.
From every point of view, touring the country with shows is demoralizing and a menace to the Indian. And all for a 'dollar a day and feed,' with a good deal of the white man's 'nough house' thrown in. A wild-west show's contract is simply a sheet of "guaranteed-to-catch fly paper." Thousands of Indians have been deceived and stranded in far-away places and the "folks-at-home" had to pay their way back.
Both sides lose, the whites as well as the red man. The spectator gains no real knowledge of the manners, costumes, and institutions of the Indian. Show managers compel the red man to act the white man's idea of a war dance. All is burlesque. The whole thing is deception.
There is one reservation where the circus agent in the future will most likely be asked to "please shut the door from the outside." This is the Onondaga Reservation near Syracuse, NY.
Early in March, without the knowledge of the writer, an agent from a German circus, with headquarters at Berlin, Germany, was successful in engaging 16 Onondaga Indians (12 men, 3 women, and 1 babe in arms) to tour Europe for nine months. The salary offered was a dollar a day and expenses. In due time they reached Berlin, and divided into two parties for two German circuses, each group having a western cowboy or leader. War broke out. One circus stranded at Trieste, Austria, the other at Essen, Germany. The German members immediately joined their regiments, and the Onondagas were abandoned to shift for themselves.
Realizing the situation, the writer wired the Secretary of State at Washington on August 5th to cable the United States ambassadors and consuls to locate, protect, and send home the Indians. Six week later, after many telegrams and letters to Washington, they were found, some at Hamburg and others at Stockholm. Nine have reached the reservation and seven were to have sailed from Christiana, October 17th.
The Indian who returned had a tale of hardship to relate; abandoned, days without food, suffering from bodily violence from German mobs, and arrested as Russian or Servian spies at every city on the way to Hamburg, though all had United States and German passports. All the Onondaga Indians wear the white man's clothing.
Much credit is due Hon. J.R. Clancy, Congressman from Syracuse district, for the safe return of the Indians. He took the matter up most energetically with the State Department and carried the matter to a successful issue.
There are perfectly legitimate and wholesale engagements Indians can make. No possible objections can be made to Indians taking part in local historical plays and pageants designed to correctly portray historical or ethnological facts, when under the auspices of colleges and historical societies in localities near their reservations. Such events stimulates the white man to acquaint himself with the real red man of the past and show the Indian of to-day as he is. Throughout the Eastern States at the present time, local historical events are being presented in the form of plays and pageants, and it is encouraging to note the increasing demand for archeologic and ethnologic accuracy in staging scenes in which the Indians occupy no inconspicuous parts.
Only a few days ago the writer stood before the shelves of works on the New York Iroquois in the State Library at Albany, NY. Within a few minutes, five persons took from the shelves books of this subject for reference or research. The contrast between the morbid curiosity to see the red man as a savage in war-paint and the desire to see the Indian as a fellow human being, with the aid of good books by the family fireside, is a great advance. Dr. F.G. Speck, in the January Quarterly Journal, makes a just plea when he says, "Educate the white man up to the Indian."
The Effect of Wild Westing
A determined stand should be taken by all true friends of our American Indians to discourage and prevent whenever possible Indians making engagements with wild-west shows, theatrical troups, circuses, and most of the motion-picture firms. The Indian gains nothing of real value from the associations and environments he meets, and his pathway to self-help and progress is interrupted and only too often seriously checked.Theatrical agents invariably take from the reservations the very element that should remain at home, -- boys and girls still attending school, and adults who may have attained steady habits of study or industry in school, on the farm, or in the shop.
The smooth tempter and corrupter arrives on the reservation at the most opportune season, --- early spring, when, after the long and dull winter months have passed, the blood in the Indian begins to move, for pleasure, excitement, or work, like sap in the maple, -- and falls a ready victim to the briber. The Indian youth is thus robbed of the spring and fall months at school, and the adult is take from his farm or trade at the very time he should be in his field or at his bench in the shop.
From every point of view, touring the country with shows is demoralizing and a menace to the Indian. And all for a 'dollar a day and feed,' with a good deal of the white man's 'nough house' thrown in. A wild-west show's contract is simply a sheet of "guaranteed-to-catch fly paper." Thousands of Indians have been deceived and stranded in far-away places and the "folks-at-home" had to pay their way back.
Both sides lose, the whites as well as the red man. The spectator gains no real knowledge of the manners, costumes, and institutions of the Indian. Show managers compel the red man to act the white man's idea of a war dance. All is burlesque. The whole thing is deception.
There is one reservation where the circus agent in the future will most likely be asked to "please shut the door from the outside." This is the Onondaga Reservation near Syracuse, NY.
Early in March, without the knowledge of the writer, an agent from a German circus, with headquarters at Berlin, Germany, was successful in engaging 16 Onondaga Indians (12 men, 3 women, and 1 babe in arms) to tour Europe for nine months. The salary offered was a dollar a day and expenses. In due time they reached Berlin, and divided into two parties for two German circuses, each group having a western cowboy or leader. War broke out. One circus stranded at Trieste, Austria, the other at Essen, Germany. The German members immediately joined their regiments, and the Onondagas were abandoned to shift for themselves.
Realizing the situation, the writer wired the Secretary of State at Washington on August 5th to cable the United States ambassadors and consuls to locate, protect, and send home the Indians. Six week later, after many telegrams and letters to Washington, they were found, some at Hamburg and others at Stockholm. Nine have reached the reservation and seven were to have sailed from Christiana, October 17th.
The Indian who returned had a tale of hardship to relate; abandoned, days without food, suffering from bodily violence from German mobs, and arrested as Russian or Servian spies at every city on the way to Hamburg, though all had United States and German passports. All the Onondaga Indians wear the white man's clothing.
Much credit is due Hon. J.R. Clancy, Congressman from Syracuse district, for the safe return of the Indians. He took the matter up most energetically with the State Department and carried the matter to a successful issue.
There are perfectly legitimate and wholesale engagements Indians can make. No possible objections can be made to Indians taking part in local historical plays and pageants designed to correctly portray historical or ethnological facts, when under the auspices of colleges and historical societies in localities near their reservations. Such events stimulates the white man to acquaint himself with the real red man of the past and show the Indian of to-day as he is. Throughout the Eastern States at the present time, local historical events are being presented in the form of plays and pageants, and it is encouraging to note the increasing demand for archeologic and ethnologic accuracy in staging scenes in which the Indians occupy no inconspicuous parts.
Only a few days ago the writer stood before the shelves of works on the New York Iroquois in the State Library at Albany, NY. Within a few minutes, five persons took from the shelves books of this subject for reference or research. The contrast between the morbid curiosity to see the red man as a savage in war-paint and the desire to see the Indian as a fellow human being, with the aid of good books by the family fireside, is a great advance. Dr. F.G. Speck, in the January Quarterly Journal, makes a just plea when he says, "Educate the white man up to the Indian."
-- The End --
