Savages Are We
[Citation: Celebrating the Louisiana Purchase: St. Louis Public Library, http://exhibits.slpl.lib.mo.us/lpe/data/LPE240024850.asp?thread=240035287]
"Igorottes are still being exhibited in parts of the United States as specimen Filipinos. A group of them were not long ago on show at San Francisco. The native Filipino papers express a very natural indignation at this unfair representation of their people.
"As Americans may have no better sources of information, they believe that the majority of the Filipinos are like them. There are many of our students and countrymen who have been asked the following questions from badly informed Americans: 'Since when have you used coats?' 'Do your shoes hurt your feet?' and whether there are many Filipinos who wear clothes, etc., etc. And as the United States government maintains that its mission is one of education, the belief grows that we Filipinos are savages whom the nephews of Uncle Sam are here to civilize.
"When the exposition was held at St. Louis, we energetically opposed the exhibition of non-Christian tribes; the effect on the opinion in the United States verified our fears. Again we opposed the sending of them to Portland. We were equally unsuccessful in this.
"It does little good to send honorary commissioners, delegates, students, etc., to America; the general opinion continues that they are exceptional samples and that the masses are still 'savages.' Congressional delegations and travelers like Bryan may come; but what are these drops in the midst of that ocean of American impression formed by the sight of these non-Christian tribes? Besides this, those who come here and return to America are not all sincerely actuated by wishes for the highest good of the Filipinos. How then can the truth be established which political interests are interested to conceal?
"It is high time that the government (if it be within its power) and those interested in maintaining its prestige hinder this vile exploitation which sacrifices on the altar of a degrading mercantile enterprise the rights of truth and human sentiments." [Citation: How the Filipinos Feel about the Exhibition of the Igorottes in the United States The Public 8 (March 3, 1906); World Fairs and Expositions, March 21, 2007].
The Igorot as implied in the above news clip on the reactions of Filipinos on the exhibition of mountain tribesmen at the St. Louis World's Fair shows how Igorots were often seen as savages even by their very own neighbors in the Philippine Islands. This was in 1906. Through the years, there have been positive changes in the way the Filipino majority look at their highland brothers yet to some extent, this same perception still exists to this day albeit in a subtle way. Following are links to materials on the exhibition of the Igorots in St. Louis, San Francisco and Portland. It is hoped that these resources give us a better view of the Igorots and an open attitude towards minority groups in our societies.
REDISCOVERING THE 1904 WORLD'S FAIR: HUMAN BITES HUMAN
by: Robert C. Galloway
THE IGOROTS IN ST. LOUIS FAIR 1904
Speech Delivered by Martha R. Clevenger [On the occasion of the Community Dialogue with the Igorots from LA and Maryland at Wydown Middle School, Clayton, Missouri May 26, 2000.]
St. Louis Republic News Clips on the Igorots at the World's Fair 1904
by Bob Corbett
DOGTOWN U.S.A.: AN IGOROT LEGACY IN THE MIDWEST
by: Virgilio R. Pilapil
Filipinos at World's Fairs and Expositions
edited by Jim Zwick
Remembering St. Louis, 1904: A World on Display and Bontoc Eulogy
Reviewed by Jim Zwick, for H-AmStdy March 2, 1996
Louisiana Purchase Exposition(1904 World’s Fair)
Factsheet: St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission
Rethinking the Display of Filipinos and their Artifacts in the 1904 World's Fair
by Cherubim A. Quizon
Celebrating the Louisiana Purchase
St. Louis Public Library
Our Own Voice [from the editor's laptop]
Reme-Antonio Grefalda
"As Americans may have no better sources of information, they believe that the majority of the Filipinos are like them. There are many of our students and countrymen who have been asked the following questions from badly informed Americans: 'Since when have you used coats?' 'Do your shoes hurt your feet?' and whether there are many Filipinos who wear clothes, etc., etc. And as the United States government maintains that its mission is one of education, the belief grows that we Filipinos are savages whom the nephews of Uncle Sam are here to civilize.
"When the exposition was held at St. Louis, we energetically opposed the exhibition of non-Christian tribes; the effect on the opinion in the United States verified our fears. Again we opposed the sending of them to Portland. We were equally unsuccessful in this.
"It does little good to send honorary commissioners, delegates, students, etc., to America; the general opinion continues that they are exceptional samples and that the masses are still 'savages.' Congressional delegations and travelers like Bryan may come; but what are these drops in the midst of that ocean of American impression formed by the sight of these non-Christian tribes? Besides this, those who come here and return to America are not all sincerely actuated by wishes for the highest good of the Filipinos. How then can the truth be established which political interests are interested to conceal?
"It is high time that the government (if it be within its power) and those interested in maintaining its prestige hinder this vile exploitation which sacrifices on the altar of a degrading mercantile enterprise the rights of truth and human sentiments." [Citation: How the Filipinos Feel about the Exhibition of the Igorottes in the United States The Public 8 (March 3, 1906); World Fairs and Expositions, March 21, 2007].
The Igorot as implied in the above news clip on the reactions of Filipinos on the exhibition of mountain tribesmen at the St. Louis World's Fair shows how Igorots were often seen as savages even by their very own neighbors in the Philippine Islands. This was in 1906. Through the years, there have been positive changes in the way the Filipino majority look at their highland brothers yet to some extent, this same perception still exists to this day albeit in a subtle way. Following are links to materials on the exhibition of the Igorots in St. Louis, San Francisco and Portland. It is hoped that these resources give us a better view of the Igorots and an open attitude towards minority groups in our societies.
REDISCOVERING THE 1904 WORLD'S FAIR: HUMAN BITES HUMAN
by: Robert C. Galloway
THE IGOROTS IN ST. LOUIS FAIR 1904
Speech Delivered by Martha R. Clevenger [On the occasion of the Community Dialogue with the Igorots from LA and Maryland at Wydown Middle School, Clayton, Missouri May 26, 2000.]
St. Louis Republic News Clips on the Igorots at the World's Fair 1904
by Bob Corbett
DOGTOWN U.S.A.: AN IGOROT LEGACY IN THE MIDWEST
by: Virgilio R. Pilapil
Filipinos at World's Fairs and Expositions
edited by Jim Zwick
Remembering St. Louis, 1904: A World on Display and Bontoc Eulogy
Reviewed by Jim Zwick, for H-AmStdy March 2, 1996
Louisiana Purchase Exposition(1904 World’s Fair)
Factsheet: St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission
Rethinking the Display of Filipinos and their Artifacts in the 1904 World's Fair
by Cherubim A. Quizon
Celebrating the Louisiana Purchase
St. Louis Public Library
Our Own Voice [from the editor's laptop]
Reme-Antonio Grefalda
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