I am writing this as an addendum to the piece that GD Falksen wrote recently, about Native Americans and the Old West as they relate to steampunk.

Most people seem to think of the Old West as happening long before the Victorian era. While the heyday of the West might have been before Queen Victoria’s coming-into-power, that was not the end of the Old West, nor of Native American culture. The concept of the date of the decline of the Old West really is up for debate to be honest...the Removal Times were in the 1830's (Queen Victoria did not sit on the thrown until 1837...the same year that many of the tribes suffered Removal)...almost every tribe having had their own "Trail of Tears" in those years around then.

Many people also say that there is no connection to the Victorian era and Native Americans and the Old West. But, this is not true at all. The Victorian Era might be said by some to be relegated to Britain only, but steampunk is a world that is not relegated to Victorian Britain...just as there were technological advancements in England, steam, gas light, electricity and other technologies were also dawning in societies all over the globe. Steampunk (to me) is not about Victorian England, but the what if? of how a society might have looked if it had our devices built with their understanding and technology (steam, gas light, etc). While some people may desire to keep their own alternate history of the late mid 1800's - early 1900's in England, I feel that this thought process limits the colorful (and creative) possibilities in constructing an alternate reality. Point of note about why not to relegate steampunk to England (in my opinion)- Nikola Tesla is name renowned in the steampunk community...but he never lived in England...he was born in and studied in eastern block countries, and moved to America in the late 1800's. Relegating steampunk to Britain and the refusal of outside cultures might well remove Tesla's discoveries from steampunk. (but I digress).

On top of that, there is a direct link between Native Americans and England's fascination with them (with actual documented proof dating as far back as the 1600's...the story of Tisquantum [aka Squanto] comes to mind).

In the mid to late 1800’s (circa 1870’s), William Cody (who later came to be known as Buffalo Bill) started up a traveling show called Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Largely, it was as much a misrepresentation of the “wild west” as any dime novel, and merely a capitalistic venture on his part- to exploit his own past experiences in the form of entertainment for those on the east coast who never had the chance (or desire) to actually go experience it for themselves, and who would soon lose any chance to experience it at all.

In 1886, he was presented with an opportunity, to travel with his Wild West Show to Europe. The show traveled all over Europe, starting in England and going as far East as Greece. While in Britain, Queen Victoria is known herself to have attended at least one show. To prove how much interest there was for all things Native American, this was the first public appearance of the queen since her husband died ¼ of a century earlier.

GD Falksen included a collection of photos of Natives in his post, I have added some more. In the second photo, you can see that as late as 1924 (the year of this photo), there are people still wearing their traditional tribal “pre contact” clothing. This gives you some more examples of how traditional clothing (and hair) was still worn, how European clothing was adopted, and how it was inter-mixed. I've included pics of tribal people from all over (Pacific NW, Canada, northeast, southeast, southwest, plains...couldn't find Aztec or Mayan photos from circa 1900)




I couldn't resist putting this in here...lol


photo taken in 1924


painting of Chief Joseph Brant - circa late 1700's (Mohawk)


Hopi woman

Mvskoke folks


Oglala man


Ojibwe men


Tlingit men

Note that in the photos with multiple people...not all of them wear traditional tribal clothing, nor have all of them opted to convert to European clothing styles.

Except for the painting of Chief Joseph and the photo mentioned with the date of 1924, all photos are credited in the late 1800's through early 1900's.