June 7 - 2018 Cody, Wyoming

 

Cody is a city that is very much dedicated to the “wild west” theme. As JJ wrote yesterday, we visited the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. There we learned a lot about Bill Cody, his wild west show, the founding of the town, and early tourism here. Buffalo Bill did what he could, to make this town a place people would like to visit, and where the wild west would live on.

At the old trail town, we also learned some more about the early settlers in the area. Some were farmers, some were cowboys, some were hunters, some were even outlaws (we saw two of Butch Cassidy’s hideouts).

At the Buffalo Bill Center, they had an art gallery featuring western art. They had pictures of:

Cowboys

"They stayed there, watching him move off across the plain"
W.H.D Koerner, 1923

"Trailing Texas Cattle", Frederic Remington, 1904
(Remington is one of the most famous western artists)

 Pioneers

"Advice on the Prairie", William Ranney, 1853

And (who is missing from the wild west theme?)

Indians

"The Last of Their Race", John Mix Stanley, 1857

"Whispers in the Wind", Robert Pummill, 2006

The Buffalo Bill Center had a very good museum of the plains Indians – among others the Sioux Indians. They did a good job of telling about the life of these people, who were the first inhabitants of the wild west.

Most of the plains Indians were nomadic. They hunted and gathered, following their source of food from place to place. This meant that they needed to move their homes with them. Tipis were perfect for this. They were easy to put up and take down, they were resistant to wind and rain, and they had adjustable smoke holes and flaps, so they could light fires indoors for cooking and warmth.

Before they had horses, dogs were used for moving loads,
when the tribes moved.

The buffalo was very important to them – providing everything from food, to clothing, to shelter, to tools and utensils. (All of these things are made from buffalo hide.)

 Moccasins (shoes)

Woman's clothing

For carrying babies

Warrior's shirt



These people passed their history and traditions on to the next generations through storytelling and art. One way to do this was through a “Winter Count”. Here is “Lone Dog’s winter count”, on which one symbol was added each year, showing something important, that had happened during that year. This winter count covers the years 1800-1871. It shows events like a whooping cough (kighoste) epidemic (1813), a meteor shower (1833), a peace treaty between the Lakota and Cheyenne tribes (1840).

 

Here are some of the traditional weapons used for hunting and warfare.

Both JJ and I feel very sad about what happened to the Native Americans. The new Americans – mostly white Europeans – came and took what land they wanted, leaving the natives with very little. Again and again they broke their treaties with the Indians. The Indians were not necessarily peace-loving people. They had many wars between the tribes. But they all held honor very high. They did not understand, that the newcomers did not.  The museum also did a good job of covering this.

 

 

By the way, we have been watching an old series called “Centennial” (Colorado-sagaen), which was made in 1978 (based on James Michener’s novel) . It tells about the settling of the west – especially around Centennial, Colorado. When we watched it, we learned a lot about the history between the new Americans and the Indians. We thought that the series did a very good job of telling that part of the story. We ran into much of the same information and ideas at the museum.

Written by Mary

Today, the 7th, we went to what 75 years ago, was the third largest city in Wyoming, and today is nonexistent. The Heart Mountain Relocation Center was once situated between the towns of Cody and Powell. A not so known part of American history.  

After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the US declared war against Japan (1941), President Roosevelt ordered all persons with Japanese ancestry (forfædre) removed from the West Coast. All in all, 110000 people were relocated to ten different camps. The Heart Mountain Relocation Center, Wyoming was one of them.


No doubt that this was life changing for these people. Many lost everything they owned and had their lives ruined even after the camps were closed in 1945.

The museum is kept in a storytelling mode, with the victims or descendants (efterkommere) telling the story. The word concentration camp was used several times. When you have seen concentration camps in Europe you’ll know that this was not a concentration camp. They were encouraged to have a lot of social activities, they were allowed to practice their religion, celebrate in traditional Japanese way, go to school and graduate, (tage eksamen), farm land etc. Nevertheless, they were confined (spærret inde) behind barb wire (pigtråd) and as such deprived of their freedom.
The biggest atrocity (grusomhed) was no doubt the fact that more than half of the people were US citizens (statsborgere). Interned for no other reason than they were of Japanese ancestry.
In this case the Constitution and Bill of Rights (grundloven) fell short (kiksede).
The ones that were not citizens were Japanese citizens regardless of how long they had been in the US,  so maybe it made sense to intern them. It is hard to tell 75 years later. Hindsight is 20/20 (i bagklogskabens klare lys….)

This was war and decisions had to be made. War has lots of injustices.
Many lost their lives and many lost family members without having done anything wrong either.

I can’t help thinking that maybe the current population of the US, probably the most politically correct people in the world, should take some time to reflect over all the injustices that have taken place over the last 250 years. Many of them were outrageous (uhyrlige) and seem horrific (rædselsvækkende) now. The injustices towards other people, groups of people, animals, the land and the environment. But they must be measured towards the time when they took place and not today's standards.
The sum of the whole is that without these, the current population probably would not be able to live the good life they are living today. Just a thought.

Written by JJ