Chief John Two Guns White Calf in NYC
One hundred years ago today … Chief John Two Guns White Calf of the Pikuni Blackfoot was in New York City with family and colleagues. A teepee had been pitched for them on the roof of the Commodore Hotel.
New York Herald, 15 May 1921, p. 56. Newspapers.com.
White Calf was celebrated as been one of the models for the sculpting of a Native American man’s head in profile that was used for the Buffalo Nickel, a copper coin minted between 1913 and 1938 (Estes). He arrived in New York City on April 29th and was received by Mayor John Hylan the next day (“Indians on Hotel Roof,” New York Times, 30 April 1921, p. 24).
New York Tribune, 8 May 1921, p. 65. Newspapers.com.
One hundred years ago today, the Evening World ran a feature on White Calf and his family, full of racist condescension that one assumes was par for the course in those days.
Evening World, 2 May 1921, p. 3. Newspapers.com.
The Commodore Hotel, now the Grand Hyatt, stood at 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Here is how it looked on August 15th, 1921.
Byron Company. “Street Scenes, August 15, 1921. E 42nd St. No. Side -West from Lexington Ave.” Museum of the City of New York.
References/Further reading:
Estes, Roberta. “John Two Guns White Calf.” Native Heritage Project. May 12, 2012.
– Jonathan Goldman, May 2, 2021
TAGS: Native American, indigenous, racism, stereotypes