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| PENOBSCOT INDIANS - The engraving represents
the exhibit of four familes of Penobscot Indians, living in their
birch-bark wigwams, near the Ethnological Building, under the care of
Mr. H. E. Hunt, Indian agent at Oldtown, Maine. These Indians had
birch-bark canoes which they paddled in the waters of the Exposition,
particularly on the South Pond, near by. The birch-bark hut, on the
left, was one of several belonging to the living representatives of
the Iroquois who lived in Jackson Park all summer as part of New York
State's exhibit. They also had bark canoes and dug-outs on the South
Pond. The presence of these red men, with many others, gave to the
directors of amusements an opportunity to secure impersonations of
aborigines on the floats at night, and red men multiplied
prodigiously after dark on festive occasions. The good behavior of
these first families of North America during their residence in
Chicago was the subject of universal remark, and it was learned by
the whites that they have not yet secured the self-control and sense
of equity which the Indians displayed on all great days. The
ticket-takers averred that the Indians were best fitted to be in an
assemblage like that of Chicago day, when
seven hundred and fifty-one thousand people were present. To
classify the American Indians, and understand them ethnologically
seems a hopeless task to the layman, but those who may be interested
in the Penobscots will find an article by L. Sabine, in the Christian
Examiner, volume 62, pages 27 and 210. An article entitled "Ancient
Penobscot, or Panawanskek," is in the Historical Magazine, volume 21,
page 85. |
