1902 - Indians cannot look like Indians .. but white people can!
In 1902, the government issued an order: "Indians Must Cut Hair." Not only that, they had to adopt citizens' clothing, and stop dancing. This is the third time the government tries to enforce this type of an order, and it was previously unsuccessful. Because they were threatened to have supplies withheld, many men showed up and had their long hair chopped off, and traded in their clothing for something that looked less like themselves.
Ironically, this order did NOT apply to those who were "playing Indian," at the Order of the Red Men lodges, who were holding dances, wearing blankets and black wigs, pretending to be Medicine Men and wandering around with tomahawks and scalping knives.
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| 1902, Sept 27 The Wichita Beacon |
Let me reiterate this point: The United States government ORDERED American Indians to stop looking like themselves - or face possible starvation - while prominent American white men were throwing parties, dressed exactly as what was forbidden, which were the people they were pretending to be.
The hypocrisy of it all! Can you imagine??
The article below pertains to an organization that was, at that time, busy trying to attain rights for indigenous people (mostly land rights, plus uncovering government fraud and corruption), but the writer here mocks the hair-cutting order, saying that the Native people will most likely be pissed off.
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| 1902, Jan 17 The Minneapolis Journal |
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| 1902, Sept 27 The Wichita Beacon |
