Frederick Arthur Bridgman

Jeune femme sur une terrasse / Young woman on a terrace. Problably Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1889. Oil on Canvas. 99 x 114 cm.

Metallic Brocade and Lace Evening Dress, ca. 1913-14

The Haunting Story of Filipinos Locked in a ‘Human Zoo’ | FilipiKnow

While we’ve known for a fact that our ancestors were often looked down upon by their colonizers as dark-skinned uneducated savages, the lowest point of this centuries-old discrimination came in the form of America’s human zoos in the early 1900s.

This is when thousands of Filipino tribesmen were taken from their homeland and displayed in exhibits for the American people to gawk at.

To put this shocking story in context, the 19th and early 20th century were periods of expansion by Western powers who were eager to display just how advanced their civilization were compared to the rest of the world. While exhibits featuring people from conquered territories have been recorded as early as 1400, the modern human zoo kicked off with infamous showman P.T. Barnum’s exhibition of Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker on February 25, 1835.

Going by this logic, the US government—also eager to justify its reason of annexing the Philippines—imported 1,300 indigenous Filipinos from different tribes to the tune of $1.5 million and displayed them at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904. There the tribespeople—introduced to visitors as primitive dog-eating headhunters to emphasize the US government’s stance that Filipinos were not ready for self-government—were made to live out their daily lives in full view of the public.

Of course, a few enterprising Americans looking to make some money also brought in their own tribesmen. With the official sanction of the government, medical/showman/former lieutenant governor of Bontoc Truman Hunt brought with him a troupe of Igorots in 1905 to the US mainland where they travelled around and put on human exhibits. He was rivalled in his endeavor by another American, former cigar salesman Richard Schneidewind who was married to a Filipina. As rivals, both tried to outdo each other in showmanship by doing as many tours as they could.

Le manteau légendaire / The legendary tunic. Oil on Canvas. 64.5 x 92.5 cm.