Photos and videos of Native Americans dancing for US President Theodore Roosevelt shed light on discrimination in the United States at the turn of the 20th century.
Video clips from the late 1800s show members of the Sioux tribe, one of the largest Native American tribes in the United States, performing a traditional Sioux ghost dance as well as a Buffalo dance as part of a Wild West show.
Another clip shows Hopi Indians performing a ‘snake dance’ in 1913 for then-President Theodore Roosevelt while scores of people look on from the side-lines.
At the time, Native Americans were paid to perform their traditional ceremonies and dances at Wild West shows after the legendary Buffalo Bill decided to cash in on the public’s fascination in the myth of cowboys and Indians.
Many Americans had limited knowledge of the culture and history of the native tribes, despite paying to watch them perform and dance at Wild West shows.
Video clips from the late 1800s show Native Americans performing in Wild West shows in the United States. Pictured above, three Native American men, in traditional clothing, posed as if performing a snake dance
Video footage shows members of the Sioux tribe, one of the largest Native American tribes in the United States, performing a traditional Sioux ghost dance
After years of war and bloodshed had effectively left the Native American tribes defeated, white Americans saw them far more as an attraction than as a community of people with an historic right to live in their country. Pictured above, William Jennings Bryan, another man, and four Native Americans in traditional Sioux attire, posed before a tipi
It was Roosevelt who famously said of Native Americans: ‘I don’t go so far as to think that the only good Indians are the dead Indians, but I believe nine out of every 10 are.
‘And I shouldn’t like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth.’
He made the comment during a speech in New York in 1886 after spending time on a ranch in the Dakotas.
The video footage of Wild West shows and Roosevelt watching performances is a stark reminder of the role of Native Americans in the United States at the turn of the 20th Century.
After years of war and bloodshed had effectively left the Native American tribes defeated, white Americans saw them far more as an attraction than as a community of people with an historic right to live in their country.
Nothing showcased this more than the Wild West shows that began to spring up toward the end of the 19th century, headed up by a man known as William Frederick Cody.
Cody, known today as Buffalo Bill, had noticed a fascination among the general public with the American ‘Wild West’, and decided to cash in on the myths of cowboys, Indians and outlaws by staging his own ‘Wild West’ shows.
William Frederick Cody, today as Buffalo Bill, had noticed a fascination among the general public with the American ‘Wild West’, and decided to cash in on the myths of cowboys, Indians and outlaws by staging his own ‘Wild West’ shows. Pictured above, Chief White Horse, infamous leader of the Kiowa tribe who often conducted raids on other tribes and white settlers
Two Native Americans, wearing feather headdresses, look at photographic film as they stand next to a stream with photographic equipment at their feet and tipis in the background
The systematic persecution of Native Americans by the white settlers had left what little Natives remained with few options. PIctured above, five Ojibwa Indians travel by canoe across a large body of water.
The shows featured extravagant portrayals of the American frontiers, with ‘Bill’ employing members of several Native American tribes to perform their traditional ceremonies and dances for a paying audience.
The systematic persecution of Native Americans by the white settlers had left what little Natives remained with few options, the best of which perhaps was to become part of mainstream society in an attempt to adjust to modern life.
Many people’s understanding of Native American culture was therefore limited to what they saw in these shows, made evident by President Roosevelt requesting a traditional Native American dance be performed for him as he made his way through Arizona with his sons.
Today Native Americans do have designated reservations in the United States and Canada, where the land belongs to them alone, but it is seen by many as scant consolation for the years of suffering they endured at the hands of white settlers.
Last month marked the tenth anniversary of United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, which intends to protect the individual and collective rights of more than 370 million indigenous people living across the world today.
Many people’s understanding of Native American culture in the 1800s and 1900s was limited to what they saw in Wild West shows. Pictured above, young Native Americans in Copper River, Alaska, with their dogs
Last week marked the tenth anniversary of United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, which intends to protect the individual and collective rights of more than 370 million indigenous people living across the world today