American Indians: Burial of the Muse des Confluence Hatset

Walter Littlemoon turns 80 years old. Long gray hair, curly, suffocating, he walks through the Musi des Confluence in Lyon. Opposite the site allotted to the restored Indian village in Brussels in 1935, World Exhibition, He inspects the clothes and decorations worn by his family members. At the time, led by Walter’s father Joe, the Littlemoons held an exhibition following their popularity in the Belgian capital. Buffalo Bill Wild West Show It toured the United States and later Europe from 1883 to 1912, in which they participated.

These eagle feather helmets, beaded underwear, moccasins and other ceremonial items came from the collection of the Belgian Franுவாois Claudius, a Westerner who discovered them in old iron canteens. They accompanied Littlemoon’s European expedition, and its descendants became detectives and were discovered in South Dakota. “In Lakota, stories are passed from father to son. Mine, from father, I died at the age of 10 months, so I know nothing about him. I feel like I discovered him and a part of our family history. Exhibition,” says Walter.

Muse des Confluence was actually launched In the path of the Sioux Explore the representation of American Indians in France and Europe, from the first immigrants to modern pop culture. Tippy, feather, barbarian, peace pipe … A study carried out on a hexagonal scale, implemented here by the spectacular diorama, shows that the French still use this dictionary to inspire “American Indians”. “We have the image of Indians who agree with Sioux, but do not represent all North American people. This Sioux fiction that we share in France; its attributes are not false but derogatory,” said Point John Carmeyer, museum project manager.

Limited offer. 1 € to 2 months without commitment

This identical portrait was built over many centuries. In the 16th century, after the arrival of Europeans who immigrated to North America, the representation of the “good savages” took precedence over the old continent, followed soon by the representation of the “savages”. Then, Chateaubriand drives the point home Chapter (1801), its themes, far removed from reality, are repeated on boards, in concert or in the artist’s studio. In the 19th century, designer Carl Bodmer and painter George Caitlin gave very real testimonies. But Western novels, aired in series in Warrior Redskins and magazines, feed the collective imagination.

In the twentieth century, Westerners fed on the clichேs about Indians. Broken arrow, In the 1950s, changed the perception of this tribal people, which in the 1970s was reinforced by realistic cinema. Small big man. Meanwhile, in France, there is a comic strip (Fenouillard family By Christophe), toys (idols of cowboys vs Indians), and then ads for soups or biscuits, with no-nonsense commentary. Little by little, strong in the new age movement, the image of the Indian becomes wiser, as evidenced by the Bison Smart campaign launched in 1976. “Hollywood has never considered us as individuals or groups of individuals, but rather as a whole, this concept continues to this day,” Judge Walter Littlemoon said. But today in the United States we have 547 aborigines, and we all speak different languages.