Despite all the hullabaloo, history shows that when Henry Hudson sailed into the New York Harbor in 1609, he was not the first person to traverse the area. And unfortunately for many Italian enthusiasts and historians, neither was Giovanni da Verrazzano when he entered the harbor in 1524. In reality, no one knows the true date of the Hudson River Valley’s discovery, because there is no record of the day that the first Lenape tribe settled in the area. Of course, as is the case with all romanticized American “discoveries,” the celebrated navigator – in this case, Henry Hudson – was far from the first to set eyes on the area. When he arrived, he was greeted with faces, languages, and people that were even newer to him than the land; he discovered the Hudson Valley Native Americans.

Upon Hudson’s arrival, the natives treated the foreign men both with hostility and with friendship. When Hudson and some of his crew sailed toward the land on a small, exploratory mission, they were first greeted with a shower of arrows, fatally wounding one of the crew. The natives were unsure as to whether they should approach the visitors as enemies or as gods.Shortly thereafter, however, the leaders of the Lenape decided that Hudson and his crew should be revered, and the tribe became not just a welcoming party to the crew, but also a valuable source of trade. ^[i] This amiable relationship was the one that the Hudson-Fulton Celebration sought to recreate in its representations of 1609 native life.

NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE HISTORICAL PARADE

In order to be relatively historically accurate, the Hudson-Fulton Celebration had no choice but to acknowledge this fact; whether or not it was adequately acknowledged is up for debate. Regardless, Native American culture and history (as they were generally viewed in 1909) played significant roles throughout the festival’s events. Most notable, perhaps, was the “Indian Period” section of the Historical Parade, which, including the title float, was comprised of nine floats specifically dedicated to various aspects of Native American tradition.This series of floats was presented as an attempt to educate New Yorkers about the history of their city, which began with the Native Americans’ inhabitance of the area. The titles and descriptions given in the official 1910 report of the event were as follows:

[1.] Title Car of “Indian Period.” This float symbolized the League of the Iroquois who dominated the territory of the State at the time of Hudson’s advent.…On the front… were the clan totems of the Five Nations – the beaver, the tortoise, the bear, the wolf, and the deer.

[2.] Legend of Hiawatha.This float represented the legend concerning the formation of the League of the Iroquois. …At the prow of the canoe, just landed, stood Hiawatha.Upon a rock lay [his daughter], in the clutches of an enormous eagle which crushed her to death.…The legend is to the effect that after Hiawatha had mourned his daughter three days, he rose in council and formed the League of the Iroquois.

[3.] The Five Nations.The Iroquois Confederacy was originally composed of five related nations, called the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onodagas, Cayugas, and Senecas….

[4.] The First Sachem of the Iroquois.The first Sachem of the League was the venerable Ato-tar-ho, a famous Oneida chief. …The float represented Ato-tar-ho, seated amid bulrushes, surrounded by snakes and frogs, and approached by Indians bearing propitiatory gifts.

[5.] Season of Blossoms.…[The float of Spring] showed the Indians at work manufacturing implements of war and the chase, making moccasins, tilling the fields, making their birch-bark canoes, etc.

[6.] Season of Fruits.[During the summer season, the] two most important crops were celebrated by the festivals “Ha-men-da-yo,” or the Berry Festival, and “Ah-dake-wa-o,” or Green-Corn Festival.The float represented a festival dance by the aborigines.

[7.] Season of Hunting.[In fall] hunting was indulged in exclusion of all else.The float represented… Indians hunting with bows and arrows on land and in a canoe.

[8.] Season of Snows.This float represented the dance to propitiate the Great Spirit, in order that he might mitigate the rigors of winter, which at one time killed many Indians. ^[ii]

Exactly what purpose these floats were designed to serve is somewhat unclear. Of course, these floats would have all fallen under the categorization of “historically educational” in 1909. However, there is room for questioning regarding their historical accuracy. First of all, it is clear that the Historical Parade was content with portraying a very generalized – and fantasized– view of Native American life rather than showing the actual customs of the people who lived in the Hudson River Valley. In examining the themes of these floats alone, one can discern the fantastical nature of the average New Yorker’s idealized native: a primitive, brightly costumed, nature-loving savage. While it is true that many of the activities featured in the parade (e.g. hunting, dancing, making canoes, etc.) were activities in which these people participated, the fact is that most Native American tribes did these things. An intriguing inclusion to the parade might have been a float depicting the Big House ceremony, a local, yearly celebration – the most important event to the native people – held in October to honor the Great Spirit. Also neglected was the tradition of the “vision quest,” in which young boys were sent out into the woods to have visions and find their guardian spirits – an essential component to the Big House ceremony, as only those with guardian spirits were allowed to participate. ^[iii] The majority of this deeply involved religious culture was completely omitted from the historical parade, suggesting either that its planners were not aware of these traditions or that these customs were not deemed respectable enough to be integrated as a part of New York’s history. Most likely, the subject matter of these particular floats was chosen to perpetuate the general fantasy of the endearingly frivolous savage.

With the inclusion of historical information, traditional myths, and cultural lifestyles, it would appear that the Historical Parade had attempted a somewhat comprehensive account of the Iroquois presence in 1609. However, there was one major problem with this presentation: the Native Americans that Hudson would have encountered upon landing in the Hudson River Valley would not have been Iroquois. Rather, they would have been Lenape, an Algonquian-speaking tribe whose territory did not even reach the upstate New York dwellings of the Iroquois. The reason for this discrepancy is difficult to determine. Perhaps general Native American history in 1909 had designated the Iroquois to be inhabitants of the Hudson River Valley. However, this is unlikely, as the Five Nations float proves that the planners of the Historical Parade were well aware that the Iroquois nation was located upstate. More likely is the fact that the Iroquois were simply more accessible to modern New Yorkers at the time. The Lenape had left the area approximately a century before the celebration, so they would be difficult to obtain for the ceremonies in person. In addition, because they were somewhat unreachable, it would have been exceedingly difficult to learn about them.The introduction to a 1915 text on the Native Americans of Manhattan laments,

…[T]here is no subject upon which it is more difficult to obtain information, for our Colonial ancestors have left us but few accounts of their observations, and these are in tomes that are rare and difficult to access.The aborigines themselves have so nearly passed into oblivion, that no help can be obtained from their scattered and degenerate remnants in exile in the west….^[iv]

This same document speaks repeatedly about the Iroquois nation specifically, but never refers to the Lenape by name, most often referring to them as, “the Indians of Greater New York” or “the New York Coastal Algonkin.” It is possible that not even the name of this tribe was known to the planners of the 1909 event. In order to prepare the Indian Period floats, the makers had to have some understanding of the tribe’s history, its mythology, and its everyday life. For the Hudson-Fulton Celebration planners, the relative ease of featuring the Iroquois would have overshadowed the loss of historical integrity that, in all likelihood, very few 1909 spectators would have even thought to question.

NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE HISTORICAL PARADE

In actuality, the appeal of the “Indian Period” section of the parade was more like that of a sideshow or a fairytale than that of a patriotic tribute. The Native Americans, dressed in exotic costumes and performing rustic activities, would have been strange and savage to the urban New York audience.Undoubtedly, based on the flawed depictions of the Hudson Valley natives throughout the festivities, white New Yorkers had a fantasized and distorted view of what Native American life was like in 1909 and when Hudson entered the bay.The 1910 official report describes this appeal on both a local and an international level.

The aboriginal possessors of New York State were represented by 70 real Iroquois Indians – men, women and children – who were secured from the Indian reservations and for the Commission by Mr. F.E. Moore and who took the characters on the floats representing the Indian period.These Indians, dressed in their picturesque native costumes, and still speaking the language of their ancestors, were the objects of intense interest alike to the American spectators and to the official representatives of foreign nations at the Court of Honor, before whom they paused and executed a ceremonial dance. ^[v]

The language in this description alone gives a very clear idea of the way in which Native Americans were perceived at the time of the celebration.The idea that these people had been “secured” from their reservations likens them to ownable property – material items that could be attained to serve white people’s purposes. In reality, this concept was not far from the truth. In the case of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, the Iroquois served an aesthetic function.They were treated as objects that were meant to lure in curious New York spectators and to impress foreign leaders, as is proven by the special ceremonial dance these men were given. In the words of American historian Alessandra Lorini, the Native Americans were there “to represent a glorious past that could conceal what was commonly perceived as their inglorious present and hopeless future.” ^[vi] In addition, the portrayal of this “glorious past” would have covered up the mistreatment that the Native Americans were dealt upon the arrival of the Europeans and thenceforth.The actual history behind this group was far less important than its fantasized value in the present. Due to many New Yorkers’ views of the natives as an inferior race, the tragic story of the Native Americans was most likely not one with which many Celebration attendees would identify. However, these same people would be entertained by the fanciful versions of the natives portrayed in 1909, and perhaps this colorful image of America’s and New York City’s pasts would instill a sense of pride in the citizens.

The Iroquois were also prominently featured at the dedication of the Hudson monument on Spuyten Duyvil Hill.Native American men, women and children were present at the laying of the cornerstone “in native costumes, vividly recalling the days when the Iroquois held in subjection the aboriginal inhabitants of Spuyten Duyvil Hill.” ^[vii] Once again, their presence at this event was solely aesthetic, as is evidenced by the fact that the report does not tell of the Iroquois as engaging in any activities; its only mention of their existence at the dedication is to enhance the description of the scene as “picturesque.”

CHILDREN PLAYING NATIVE AMERICANS

When it came to events that incorporated Native American activities, rather than just an exotic image, in some cases, the Iroquois were not invited to participate. Instead, children (primarily white) reenacted Native American traditions in a manner that was undoubtedly seen as being safer than allowing these strange, savage natives to take part. During the Children’s Festival, costumed boys and girls of white church schools performed an Indian Snake Dance. ^[viii] During an historical reproduction at Inwood Fieldof the arrival of the Half Moon into the bay, a group of children dressed as Native Americans attacked the incoming ship with bows and arrows. By removing these activities from the responsibility of the people from whom they were derived, the celebration decontextualized them, contributing to an even greater idea of the “real American’s” separation from these terrible, fantastic natives. Native Americans were seen as something to be imitated by children, something intriguing but not to be taken seriously. Perhaps the two groups were even seen as being interchangeable – that is, Native Americans were viewed as childish, frivolous and potentially mischievous.

MUSEUM EXHIBITS

Arguably, the most authentic Native American-related features of the celebration were the museum exhibits. In an effort to promote historical awareness and to preserve New York’s past, numerous artifacts from the “Indian Period” were distributed throughout the city. The American Museum of Natural History had the most general exhibit, representing the “Indians of New York, …an ethnological exhibit mainly devoted to the Iroquois Indians of New York State….” ^[ix] The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences had a more specialized exhibition of the past and present life of the Native American tribes of Long Island. ^[x] The most archeological exhibit was at the Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences, which displayed a collection of “Indian implements, weapons, etc., from various parts of Staten Island….” ^[xi]

1909 PERCEPTIONS OF NATIVE AMERICAN LIFE

Mr. Governor, Ladies and Gentlemen: The Indians who are here with us are real Indians; they are not white people painted up for this occasion.They represent the real ‘first families of New York.’ They are the descendants of the Iroquois Indians, or the Five Nations, sometimes called the Six Nations when there were six nations.They are now going to give you one of their ceremonial songs and one of their ceremonial dances; and I wish to say to you, so you may appreciate what they are doing, that this is not a show.They have been brought here by Mr. Moore for the Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission, with the idea that we are celebrating a great ceremony in honor of the birth of this City.They have therefore come here, not as a side-show, but in a religious spirit to a great and wholesome celebration.They have been brought here to live part of their lives over again.Their ancestors were the controllers of the Indians who lived on these Islands.…As I have said, they are here, not as an exhibition or as a show, but to repeat some of their ceremonies which have been handed down to them.They are going to give a song called ‘The Prairie Song’ and a ceremonial dance called the ‘Feather Dance.’ ^[xii]

In today’s world, these comments would be condemned for their condescending and demeaning nature. In 1909, however, they were seen as completely appropriate and necessary. Hall was required to emphasize that the Native Americans were not part of a sideshow because if he did not, spectators would assume that they were. The default view of Native Americans at the time was as a source of mystery and entertainment, and most people had to be instructed if they were to think otherwise. People had to be commanded to take the Native Americans seriously.

The ultimate question, then, is whether the Hudson-Fulton celebration contributed to this separation more than it sought to unite New York’s differing peoples. To reference the Commission’s official goal of unification might be misleading. While it is true that one of the celebration’s goals was to commemorate the varying cultural traditions that were present amongst immigrant groups in the city, it is unclear whether or not these groups really included Native Americans.

Historically, Native Americans had been excluded from or misrepresented in public events long before 1909. If they were included in events, it was often controversial. For example, in 1844, Native Americans processed in a Philadelphia anti-immigration protest, provoking serious rioting. ^[xiii] In St. Paul’s winter carnivals, starting in 1886, the parade featured a grand range of represented groups, including “military units; Union Army veterans; police and fire departments; ethnic organizations such as the Ancient Order of Hiberians, the Union Française, both Bohemian and German Turner societies; occupational groups and labor unions; and, always last and least, Sioux Indians.” ^[xiv] The more prominent inclusion of other ethnic groups – that is, groups of immigrants – speaks to the devastating view of Native Americans toward the turn of the twentieth century.

From a general, early twentieth century viewpoint, Native Americans were seen as marginal, an afterthought to the more magnificent, less primitive aspects of American life.This prevailing outlook, in combination with the manner in which this group was used during the festivities, indicates that perhaps Native Americans were left behind in the celebration’s quest to unify New York. Despite its overarching theme of integration, the Hudson-Fulton Celebration included New York’s Native Americans as little more than objects meant to appeal to the most curious of spectators.