Clear Unease

ID: 778 ~ Source: Image courtesy of the Texas Collection, Baylor University ~ Creator: Fred R. Gildersleeve
This file appears in: Waco Indian Village
Clear Unease

The crude bows and tense, uncomfortable expressions of the Waco Indians in this photograph are evidence of the ways in which the Texas Cotton Palace Exposition failed to honor the culture of Waco's original inhabitants. Cotton Palace organizers designed the "Waco Indian Village" on the fairground's War Path to entertain white visitors and cater to their imaginations fed by crude racial stereotypes.

This file appears in: Waco Indian Village

By Amanda Sawyer
The city of Waco derives its name from the agrarian indigenous group that originally resided in the area. The Waco, orWi-iko, Indians were a tribe of the Wichita that arrived in Central Texas in the 1700s. The tribe’s early history is difficult to…