Lakota Performers in Europe: Their Culture and the Artifacts They Left BehindFrom April to November 1935 in Belgium, fifteen Lakotas enacted their culture on a world stage. Wearing beaded moccasins and eagle-feather headdresses, they set up tepees, danced, and demonstrated marksmanship and horse taming for the twenty million visitors to the Brussels International Exposition, a grand event similar to a world’s fair. The performers then turned homeward, leaving behind 157 pieces of Lakota culture that they had used in the exposition, ranging from costumery to weaponry. In Lakota Performers in Europe, author Steve Friesen tells the story of these artifacts, forgotten until recently, and of the Lakota performers who used them. The 1935 exposition marked a culmination of more than a century of European travel by American Indian performers, and of Europeans’ fascination with Native culture, fanned in part by William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s Wild West from the late 1800s through 1913. Although European newspaper reports often stereotyped Native performers as “savages,” American Indians were drawn to participate by the opportunity to practice traditional aspects of their culture, earn better wages, and see the world. When the organizers of the 1935 exposition wanted to include an American Indian village, Sam Lone Bear, Thomas and Sallie Stabber, Joe Little Moon, and other Lakotas were eager to participate. By doing this, they were able to preserve their culture and influence European attitudes toward it. Friesen narrates these Lakotas' experiences abroad. In the process, he also tells the tale of collector François Chladiuk, who acquired the Lakotas’ artifacts in 2004. More than 300 color and black-and-white photographs document the collection of items used by the performers during the exposition. Friesen portrays a time when American Indians—who would not long after return to Europe as allies and liberators in military garb—appeared on the international stage as ambassadors of the American West. Lakota Performers in Europe offers a complex view of a vibrant culture practiced and preserved against tremendous odds. |
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Contents
THE LAKOTAS IN EUROPE 19021914 | |
DELEGATIONS AND CIRCUS ACTS 19181934 | |
THE COSTUMES | |
THE VISITORS | |
BACK TO THE RESERVATION | |
THE TIME CAPSULE OPENED | |
EPILOGUE | |
Bibliography | |
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Common terms and phrases
acted American Indians appeared Archives artifacts August Hermans beads Belgium Bill’s Wild West Black Horn Brussels Buffalo Bill Museum Buffalo Bill’s Wild century chief Circus Clarence clothing Cody continued costumes created culture dances decorated demonstrate eagle efforts Europe European exhibition exposition Fair feathers François Chladiuk Collection friends Germany Goings headdress height History included Indian village interest Jermark John joined Kansas City Lakota performers later Length letter Little Elk Little Moon lived Lone Bear Miller moccasins Museum and Grave NARA noted offered Pair Pawnee photographs Pine Ridge posed postcard present Purchased Ranch reads Real reformers representative reservation returned Sarrasani schools season Shirt Shultz Sioux souvenir Spotted Owl Stabber stories Superintendent took tour traditional traveled United University vest visitors wearing Western White Buffalo width wife wild west shows World wrote
Bibliographic information
| Title | Lakota Performers in Europe: Their Culture and the Artifacts They Left Behind Volume 3 of William F. Cody Series on the History and Culture of the American West |
| Author | Steve Friesen |
| Contributors | François Chladiuk, Walter Littlemoon |
| Publisher | University of Oklahoma Press, 2017 |
| ISBN | 0806158263, 9780806158266 |
| Length | 276 pages |
| Subjects | › › › History / Europe / Western History / Indigenous Peoples of the Americas History / United States / 19th Century History / United States / 20th Century Social Science / Ethnic Studies / American / Native American Studies |
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