Newspaper Cartoon About Igorots at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909)

This is a cartoon that appeared on a newspaper in Seattle in 1909 at the height of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition which included an Igorot village. The scantily-clothed Igorots were a source of fascination and controversy for the local papers. 

📷: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections

Clipping title: Cartoon concerning the lack of clothing worn by the natives in the Igorrotes Village, Pay Streak, Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition, 1909

Notes on the clipping: The Igorrote male's attire of only a headpiece and a loin cloth shocked some of the fair goers, among them members of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). The WCTU asked the Reverend Mark Matthews, a Presbyterian minister well known for his moral crusades in Seattle, to view the Igorrotes and offer an opinion on the propriety of the natives' dress. Matthews led a delegation of civic leaders, including Judge Thomas Burke, Washington governor M.E. Hay, managers of the Igorrote display, and Exposition president J.E. Chilberg to investigate the Igorrote camp. The delegation decided the Igorrotes' attire was appropriate for the occasion. They even tried on loin cloths over their regular clothing. Needless to say, the local papers fully exploited the controversy, poking fun at both sides. The cartoon is typical-with Exposition President Chilberg telling the native "Here, be decent."