Story
Corsair
An Ioway Child Far from Home
Written and researched by Julie Ballands, project artist.
Image right: Painting by Karl Girardet, 1846, ‘King Louis Philippe attends a dance of Iowa Indians in the Salon de la Paix, Tuilieres Palace.’.
Introduction
On the Elswick Road side of Westgate Hill Cemetery lies the grave of Corsair, an infant who died at the age of 8 months in 1845 far away from home, and whose short life connects Newcastle to the Ioway Native American tribe and a story of 19th century cultural tastes and exploitation.
A Troupe from Iowa
Corsair was the infant son of Shon-ta-yi-ga (Little Wolf) and O-kee-wee-me, members of a troupe of fourteen Native Americans from the Ioway tribe’s Black Bear clan. Between 1844 and 1845, the group travelled to Britain and Europe as part of a tour organised by the American artist George Catlin and the infamous P.T. Barnum. Catlin was America’s ‘first Wild West Showman’ who had spent years documenting Native American tribes and was then exhibiting his “Indian Gallery” abroad. The Ioway troupe performed as part of a travelling museum, alongside Catlin’s paintings, depicting scenes and customs from Native American life to royalty and paying audiences across the British Isles and in Paris.
In 1845, the troupe arrived in Newcastle, where they spent nearly a week exhibiting songs and traditional dances at the newly opened, Richard Grainger built, Music Hall on Nelson Street.
Among those who visited them was the Quaker reformer Anna Richardson, who described “a party of 14 Indians squatting on the floor of a small apartment,” including the infant Corsair, “strapped in its cradle…having a crown of bells to jingle when it pleased.”
The visit also stayed with John Wigham Richardson, who was a child at the time. He later recalled:
“We youngsters dreamed of buffaloes and tomahawks… I shall never forget the delight of seeing them rub two pieces of wood together and then blowing up a fire.”
Loss and Burial in newcastle.
Soon after leaving Newcastle, tragedy struck. Corsair died in Dundee on 8 February 1845, aged just eight months from tuberculosis. After appropriate tribal ceremonials, Corsair was sent for burial at Westgate Hill Cemetery, under the direction of Anna Richardson and the Society of Friends or Quakers.
His grave bears the inscription:
“The grave of Corsair infant son of Shon-Ta-Yiga and Okee-Weme North American Indians of the Ioway tribe who died at Dundee 8th of 2nd month 1845 aged 8 months. The remains were interred at Newcastle by desire of the afflicted parents”
Paris
Following their time in Britain, the troupe travelled to Paris, where they were received by King Louis-Philippe I and performed at the Louvre. Catlin installed his “Indian Gallery” there, achieving significant recognition. The group also became subjects of European art. Karl Girardet painted their performance at the Tuileries (which hangs in the Palace of Versailles), while Catlin produced paintings and engravings of the Iowas, including an image of O-kee-wee-me holding Corsair.
Yet this acclaim for Catlin came at grave expense to the Ioways travelling with him. Exposed to western diseases, several members of the troupe died during the tour. As well as Corsair, his mother died in Paris three months later of grief and the same illness in June 1845, aged just 17, and was buried in an unmarked grave at Montmartre Cemetery.
Responsibility and Legacy
The experiences of the Ioway troupe raise difficult questions about the role of George Catlin. While he expressed a desire to preserve Native American cultures, he was also an ambitious artist and showman. His exhibitions depended on the display of Indigenous people under unfamiliar and often harsh conditions.
After the deaths among the Ioways, the tribe decided to withdraw from the tours. Catlin continued touring with another group, the Ojibras. It was only after further fatalities that the enterprise came to an end. Despite his artistic success, Catlin’s ventures ultimately led to financial failure, and he was imprisoned for debt in 1852.
Further resources and reading
George Catlin, Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians
Anna Richardson, contemporary account of the Ioway visit to Newcastle (Quaker records, 1845).
Christopher Mulvey, Transatlantic Manners: Social Patterns in Nineteenth-Century Anglo-American Travel Literature (1990); also Reddin (1999)
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