Performance and Protest (Paperback)

Nigel Markham

ISBN 10: 1990445284 / ISBN 13: 9781990445286

Editore: Memorial University Press, 2025

Riguardo questo articolo

Paperback. In the summer of 1892, an American company chartered a schooner to coastal Labrador to recruit Inuit for an ethnological exhibit to be presented the following year at the Worlds Columbian Exposition. Promised wages, room and board, medical care, and a supply of hunting provisions on their return, sixty Inuit boarded the Evelena that fall, bound for Chicago. Trading on the popular accounts of early Arctic explorers, the American exhibitors presented them as Arctic primitives, living in ice houses year-round, untouched by the hand of civilization. But the Inuit were from Labrador, not the Arctic, and they were far from primitive. Their unique histories in Labrador meant they were among the earliest North American Indigenous people to have contact with Europeans, and this had resulted in long-established relationships with European colonial agencies. This experience meant they were neither ignorant of Euro-American culture nor helpless in the face of injustice and exploitation. Subjected to poor living conditions and chafing under the authoritarian dictates of their employers, Inuit at the exposition shattered stereotypes by taking their employers to court seeking to assert their individual rights and freedoms under the law. The highly publicized case challenged false public perceptions of Inuit. Performance and Protest documents the trials and challenges of Inuit from Labrador as they negotiated their way through the prejudices of the time in an alien and often hostile environment. By unraveling the complexities of their representations and experiences, this volume offers valuable insight into Inuit resilience and agency in the late-nineteenth century. Tells the story of Labrador Inuit recruited for the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition, who challenged exploitation and shattered stereotypes by taking their employers to court. By unraveling the complexities of their representations and experiences, this volume offers valuable insight into Inuit resilience and agency in the late-nineteenth century. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Codice articolo 9781990445286

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: Performance and Protest (Paperback)
• Editore: Memorial University Press
• Data di pubblicazione: 2025
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 1990445284
• ISBN 13: 9781990445286
• Rilegatura: Paperback
• Condizione: new

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

In the summer of 1892, an American company charted a schooner to coastal Labrador to recruit Inuit for an ethnological exhibit to be presented the following year at the World’s Columbian Exposition. Promised wages, room and board, and hunting provisions upon their return, sixty Inuit boarded the Evelena in the fall, bound for Chicago.

Performance and Protest delves into the story of Inuit at the Exposition—examining not only where they went and what transpired during their time in Chicago, but also who they were. Presented as a living exhibit to contrast the fair’s broader effort to highlight the progress and achievements of Western civilization, the men, women, and children housed at the exposition were portrayed as a primitive and exotic people.

Subjected to poor living conditions and denied agency in their representation, their dissatisfaction grew, culminating in a landmark moment when the Inuit challenged their exploitation in court and set up their own independent camp outside the Exposition grounds. This defiant act not only questioned the fairness of their treatment, but also challenged the pervasive narratives that had been imposed upon them, forcing a reconsideration of their humanity and cultural dignity.

By unravelling the complexities of their representation and experiences, Performance and Protest offers a valuable understanding of Inuit identity, resilience, and agency in a period marked by exploitation.