Assembly House - Henry Pahtahquahong Chase, 1876
On 12th March 1876, the prominent Mississauga Ojibwe preacher Henry Pahtahquahong Chase gave sermons at three parish churches in Norwich, culminating at Christ Church in Eaton. His sermons and the lectures which followed on the 13th at the Noverre Rooms in Assembly House addressed the living conditions of the Native communities near Muncey, in Ontario, Canada, for which he served as priest, and sought to raise money for a schoolhouse.You can learn more about Chase's life and his experiences during his later 1885 visit to Britain by reading the letters he wrote to his daughter: http://www.huronresearch.ca/confrontingcolonialism/working-with-primary-sources/157-2/Want to know more about the Mississaugas, their history, and their nation today? Watch the video link!
Theatre Royal - Gowongo Mohawk, 1894 and 1907
Born on the Cattaraugus reservation in what is currently New York in 1860, Gowongo Mohawk was a talented athlete and performer. She gained fame around the same time as the Buffalo Bill Wild West Shows, in the 1890s and early 1900s, and she wrote and starred in her own play, “Wep-Ton-No-Mah – the Indian Mail Carrier.” In 1893, she travelled to England and toured for several years, giving multiple performances in Norwich in January 1894 and again in December 1907.What was particularly notable about Mohawk’s performances was how she challenged stereotypes about Indigenous women. Mohawk played the title role of an Indigenous man and she also physically challenged expectations of femininity. She was tall and an athletic, performing her own stunts. She said that she decided to act a male role because it “allowed her greater opportunity for riding and wrestling” and audiences loved her performances. The Eastern Daily Press noted that at Norwich the "realistic knife fight in the last act proved the most thrilling feature of a very exciting play."For more on Mohawk’s life, check out the video!
St. Giles Church - Rev. Henry Pahtahquahong Chase, 1876
During his visit to Norwich in March 1876, the Rev. Henry Pahtahquahong Chase also delivered a sermon here at St Giles Church on behalf of the Colonial and Continental Church Missionary Society. According to newspaper reports, there was a "crowded congregation" eager to hear Rev. Chase's words and he spoke eloquently about his work as a missionary in Ontario, Canada. He also discussed his success among one of the congregations under his charge but lamented that they had "no place of worship in which to assemble." Therefore, he hoped that he "should meet with Christian benevolence and sympathy" to raise the money for the new building.This congregation came from the community now known as the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation. Find out more about their history here: http://www.cottfn.com/chief-council/our-history/.
Guildhall - George Catlin's Lectures on North American Indians, 1848
In early May 1848, George Catlin, an American painter and traveller, visited Norwich's Guildhall to deliver two evenings of lectures on the "manners and customs, and present condition" of North American Indians before "small but respectable audiences.” According to the Norwich Chronicle, Catlin "illustrated his lecture by exhibiting a large number of portraits of the Indians, pictures of remarkable scenes, a profusion of articles of dress, weapons of all descriptions, and a variety of things entirely novel to the audience."While he had famously toured Britain in the mid-1840s with groups of Ojibwe and Iowa performers, this time he used non-Native actors dressed “in male and female Indian costume, of a costly and picturesque description” to demonstrate his points.
Akenawaka & Tomapamelaut, 1885
On 13th September 1885, two Delaware temperance preachers from Moraviantown in Ontario, Canada, gave an impassioned speech to an audience at St. Andrew's Hall, Norwich. Opposed to the consumption of alcohol, their mission was to warn the British public of the great dangers of alcoholism, using the "fire water" of Native American communities as a cautionary tale. According to the Norfolk News, the Hall was "crowded to its utmost capacities and and hundreds were unable to gain admission" (19 Sept 1885).
Mexican Joe's Wild West Show, 1889
Mexican Joe ran a disreputable Wild West Show which toured Britain in the 1880s and 1890s. Unlike the spectacular shows of Buffalo Bill, Mexican Joe's shows were smaller, cheaper, and attracted a rougher element. Fighting was common, with one Apache performer in particular, Running Wolf, often involved in brawls when the cast and audience mixed in local pubs. On 22nd October 1889, the show appeared at the Agricultural Hall in Norwich, where newspapers touted a programme that "bristles with daring adventures, and the mounting and riding of the bucking and kicking horses shows what tenacious 'stickers on' these men are." The most expensive tickets were three shillings (roughly equivalent to about £10 now), while the cheapest were sixpence (about £1.65 now).
Electric Theatre - Eagle Elk, 1926
On 26th October 1926 a party of Sioux performers, led by the actor Chief Eagle Elk, appeared at the Electric Theatre to promote the Hollywood silent film "The Flaming Frontier."Eagle Elk appears to have spent considerable time in Britain from 1913 onwards, appearing in theatrical productions and promotional tours. He is described in promotional material as a grandson of Sitting Bull, although Beyond the Spectacle researchers have not been able to verify the provenance of his ancestry. The group with which he toured comprised of Eagle Elk himself, Miniga Red Feather (sometimes called Wanita), Running Stream, Black Calf and Blue Sky.
Norwich Station - Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, 1903
One of the pioneers of the Wild West Show, Buffalo Bill Cody brought his spectacular show to Britain three times at the turn of the century, touring the country in 1887, 1891-2, and again in 1902-4. The three tours brought larger groups of Native Americans to Britain than had ever previously crossed the Atlantic and it was these performers who stole the show. Their ferocious attacks on a wagon train, a stage coach, and then a settler’s cabin, each cut short by the heroic arrival of William Cody and his troops, delighted the crowd and also promoted a simplified, triumphant, colonialist account of American history and “Indian savagery” that would endure down the years.During the last tour, the most extensive with over 300 performances, the show visited Norwich and arrived at this station on 10th September, 1903. Setting up their “canvas town” at grounds on Unthank Road, the performers thrilled the audiences even through heavy downpours, which newspaper reports blamed for the lower than expected ticket sales. Yet, as the Eastern Daily Press remarked, the show “is quite unique in its way, and those who have missed the opportunity of seeing it at their own doors are not to be envied.”For more information on the Buffalo Bill Shows in Britain, you can read the Beyond the Spectacle blogpost: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/bts/2017/11/27/buffalo-bills-lakota-indians-in-1887/
Green Hills Gardens - Deerfoot, 1861
Deerfoot, a Seneca from the Cattaraugus reservation, was a famous runner in the mid-nineteenth century. During this period, races attracted huge audiences, who often placed wagers on the outcome, and the runners themselves were rewarded with cash incentives. At a site on the bank of the River Wensum, known then as Green Hills Gardens, Deerfoot raced a series of British opponents on 10th December 1861. He did not win, and it later emerged that the races were fixed, causing a scandal in the gambling community.You can learn more about Deerfoot and his record-breaking career here: https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/great-iroquois-runners-lewis-deerfoot-bennett-and-tom-longboat
