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Post by Dietmar on Jul 10, 2012 6:51:58 GMT -5
While I was researching other things I found some photographs of Lakota who went to Europe to perform with the famous Circus Sarrasani: Any IDs?
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Post by grahamew on Jul 10, 2012 12:38:40 GMT -5
Dietmar, google Wikimedia Commons. put "Sarrasani Indians" in the search box and there are a lot of photos, though if the text is to believed, they are all from 1928.
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Post by miller7513 on Jul 10, 2012 13:47:07 GMT -5
Dietmar;Martin Red Bear went to Driesden Germany in 1926 which I have pictures of with his wife julia Clifford and son John Martin Red Bear b 1921. that is my daughter-in-law's gr-gr-grandfather. It looks like him in one of the photos above. Such performances did not fully satisfy Western-enthusiasts. Cowboy and Indian clubs emerged early: already in 1913 the “Cowboyclub” in Munich was founded. Two clubs followed in Freiburg in 1919: the “Cowboy Club Buffalo” and the “Wild-West.” Johannes Hüttner, who in 1926 at age 12 saw a group of Sarrasani's Sioux in Dresden and became fascinated by them, founded Dresden's “Indian-und Cowboyclub Manitou” with a group of friends in 1930. This is the group that, when it was resurrected after World War II, started the East-German Western mania. In these Western clubs, the members practiced lasso-tricks and knife-throwing. They even performed for others, and in 1937 the three clubs traveled to the first Karl May festival, arranged by the Hitler-Jugend. In October Hüttner and his friends even met real Seneca-Iroquois, brought to Radebeul by Circus Sarrasani. However, all western club life in Dresden and elsewhere in Germany was suspended with the outbreak of World War II and the members were either drafted or volunteered. Manitou itself did not cease to exist until 3rd February 1945: during the allied firebombing of Dresden the club's equipment was destroyed. The club was down, but not out: from the ashes of the “Indian-und Cowboyclub Manitou” arose the East-German Indian movement. LaDeane
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Post by Dietmar on Jul 11, 2012 10:31:55 GMT -5
Thank you Grahame and LaDeane.
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Post by rudolf on Jan 21, 2024 11:51:17 GMT -5
The entry was made several years ago, but the people on the two postcards have not yet been identified. The Lakota came from the Pine Ridge Reservation and had contracts with the German Circus Sarrasani from March 1929 to March 1930. On the first card are, from left to right, William Ghost Bear, Willard White Belly and his wife. In front is Willam Ghost Bear's wife. Willam Ghost Bear was already employed by Circus Sarrasani in 1926 together with his mother Sarah Ghost Bear. Sarah probably suffered a stroke, then had a serious accident in a tent fire and died in hospital. She was buried in a cemetery in the city of Essen. Her grave was leveled and reburied after the usual number of years.
On the second card are, from left to right, Steven Swallow, Joe Whetstone and his wife. In front are Steven Swallow's wife, Susie Swallow and their son. Mr. and Mrs. Swallow have unfortunately often been misidentified as William Big Charger and his wife Julia. Big Charger was not employed by Sarrasani at the time. According to their contracts, Mr. and Mrs. Charger did not return to Sarrasani in Germany until April 1930 with the next group of Sioux performers. During another engagement with Sarrasani, William Big Charger fell ill with severe pneumonia in the northern German town of Emden and was admitted to a municipal hospital. But he could no longer be helped. He died on May 27, 1932 and was buried in a cemetery in Emden. The gravesite still exists today and is intensively looked after and maintained by German friends. So, the second card does not show William and Julia Big Charger, but Steven and Susie Swallow.
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Post by Dietmar on Jan 22, 2024 10:05:38 GMT -5
Vielen Dank Rudolf! I´ve seen Willard White Belly also (mis-?)identified at an archive as William White Belly, but however he seems to be the same man. These are earlier portraits of him: Willard White Belly was born 1878 and died in July 1966. His father was White Belly and his mother Fight With Him or Eagle Chicken. He lived in Porcupine, S.D.
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Post by rudolf on Jan 23, 2024 5:42:24 GMT -5
Thank you Dietmar, your photos are interesting. Yes, that's the right man. I know photos of him, but he's a bit older. His name Willard White Belly appears in a contract document for an engagement with the Sarrasani Circus from 1929. In another contract document from 1931, the name William White Bellie appears, but it is the same person.
I am particularly interested in the visit of North American Indians to Europe. In the beginning, North Americans were brought to Europe as kidnapped and enslaved people. But soon Native Americans also traveled voluntarily to the various European countries as showmen, artists, explorers, lecturers, politicians, for education or as missionaries. I am primarily collecting old, original photographic material on this subject. My problem, I am at war with computer technology, computer programs, image editing and the secrets of the Internet.
For my research, I primarily use passenger lists, contract documents, route books, newspaper articles, circus programs, entries in archives and various other publications. The names in contracts or passenger lists were often spelled differently. For example, the names of the Indians were sometimes not understood correctly when they were entered in the passenger lists and were then written down incorrectly.
There are many references to different spellings of names. The Oglala Lakota Edward Two Two, was buried in Dresden. His wife's first name is sometimes spelled Lena, sometimes Lina, sometimes Helena. Samuel Lone Bear can also be found as Sammy or Sam Lone Bear. Mark Spider and Mark Sitting Spider are two names, but the same person. The Lakota showman Thomas Stabber can also be found under the names Tom Stabber or Sam Stabber. He also used the stage name White Buffalo Man. His father was called White Cow Man, so Stabber was also entitled to use this name. Stabber's wife's first name was spelled Sallie, Salli or Sally.
Further problems arise when translating names from English into another language. Translations were often made liberally. For example, in a German scientific paper William Ghost Bear can be found as Großer Bär or Joseph Elk Boy as Elchmann or George Respects Nothing as Fürchtenichts.
All quite confusing.
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Post by Dietmar on Jan 24, 2024 10:35:47 GMT -5
Rudolf, you´re at the right place here. There are some members who have researched Wild West Show performers, especially those who had gone to Europe. If you need technical help posting photos or anything, please let me know. There are more photos of that 1929/30 tour it seems. Do you have identifications for this group?:
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Post by rudolf on Jan 25, 2024 8:47:43 GMT -5
Dietmar all three of the group photos you posted show Oglala Lakota performing at the Sarrasani Circus in 1929/30. I have another photo / postcard from this period. These photos are postcards that were sold directly during the circus tour in 1929/30. The following text is printed on the back in German and English: "Souvenir of Circus Sarrasani. Real Sioux Indians from Pine Ridge South Dakota. They are in Europe with Clarence Shultz, the well known cowboy from Marland Oklahoma U.S.A." According to my information, the Sarrasani Circus was not involved in the production of these postcards. They were issued by Clarence Shultz, the Lakota's promoter and supervisor, and the Oglala Lakota performers and sold to the public on their own account. These postcards are hard to find today. Even rarer are cards that were also signed by Lakota performers.
In the case of the Sarrasani Lakota group from 1929/30, it is easy for me to identify the Indians, because I have some relevant information. Identifying the Native American participants from other years is much more difficult.
In your third photo, from left to right, are Joe Pratty Bird, George Respects Nothing and David Flies Above. In front is George Respects Nothing's wife and with her are her daughter and son.
I'm traveling for the next 5 days and unfortunately can't be online. I'll get back to you when I'm back.
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Post by gregor on Jan 26, 2024 8:24:25 GMT -5
In 1932 the Sarrasani circus gave guest performances in Belgium and Holland. Between the dates in both countries there was a short guest appearance in Emden (Germany) (May 24th - 26th). One attraction of the circus was a Lakota group under their chief “White Buffalo Man”. During the guest appearance in Emden there were minor accidents and illnesses also took their toll.
58-year-old Lakota William Big Charger was hospitalized due to pneumonia or a fever. Despite the doctors' intensive efforts, Big Charger died there two days after arrival on May 27, 1932. William Big Charger was buried in Emden on May 30, 1932. He left behind his wife Lena Big Charger and at least one son (Albert) and one daughter (Norma). This is a photo from the funeral ceremony William Big Charger's gravestone in Emden (Germany) One of these Lakota is said to have been William Big Charger. But who?
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Post by Dietmar on Jan 26, 2024 18:54:06 GMT -5
Thanks a lot for the names Rudolf! This is a compilation of portraits of William Big Charger, who died in Emden, Germany in 1932: William Big Charger of Pine Ridge (photos range from 1909 to 1930s)
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Post by rudolf on Feb 7, 2024 4:50:26 GMT -5
Dietmar all the portraits you have posted really show William Big Charger. I have not seen the first photo from left to right. The second portrait is part of a photo found in the William F. Cody Archives at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West Lincoln, Nebraska. The third portrait is a detail from a photo of passengers on the ocean liner S. S. "Albert Ballin". It shows, among others, ten Oglala Lakota from the Sarrasani Indian Troupe in 1926. The fourth portrait comes from an old postcard sold either in 1925 in Bertram Mill's Christmas Circus at Olympia, London or in 1926 in the German Circus Sarrasani. Portraits five and six are excerpts from two photos of the Sarrasani Indian troupe from the season May 1928 to March 1829. Here we also commemorate the Oglala Lakota William Big Charger, who in a very difficult time for the Lakota had the courage to travel to faraway Germany several times to earn urgently needed money and to convey his culture to us Europeans. He has found his final resting place in German soil and should not be forgotten.
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Post by Dietmar on Feb 7, 2024 10:47:38 GMT -5
Thank you Rudolf, I am sometimes a bit lazy when it comes to listing the photo credits. But yes, the pictures are from the group photos you mentioned. As I've only recently become involved with the Sarrasani tours of the 1920/30s, it's a bit difficult for me to give precise dates for the pictures. If you do some digging, you can at least find a lot of names for the people in the photos.
Incidentally, the picture on the far left in the row is also taken from a group photo. Big Charger then traveled with the Miller brothers' 101 Ranch show in 1909. There are a few more photos of Big Charger, which I will upload later.
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Post by rudolf on Feb 8, 2024 2:55:50 GMT -5
Precise photo evidence and dates are often not necessary. But in the case of Circus Sarrasani and the Native Americans working there, there are many legends, half-truths and tall tales in circulation. These were mostly spread deliberately, but sometimes also in good faith by circus director Hans Stosch Sarrasani and his leading circus employees such as press and propaganda manager August Heinrich Kober. In his memoirs, Kober in particular made derogatory and racist remarks about his own Native American employees. These lies and misinformation, mixed with reality, have been and continue to be spread in newspaper articles, on the internet and in many academic works without proper research. The reputation of the Show Indians in Europe, but also among today's Native Americans, is thus being greatly damaged. This can only be countered by providing good counter-arguments and accurate information, supported by correct dates, personal identification and photographic evidence. This is why I endeavor to work meticulously and correctly on this topic.
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Post by Dietmar on Feb 12, 2024 7:34:47 GMT -5
Two more portraits of Big Charger, the first one is an unidentified picture from a German photo archive: Circus Sarrasani, Hamburg 1932 by Fritz Block I´ve found this unidentified picture uploaded on Wikipedia: on left Big Charger, 2nd from left artist Gustav Grade
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