The other day while digging around in a desk drawer I found an old postcard (left photo) of La Crosse's "Big Indian" statue which has graced the north end of Riverside Park since 1961. The postcard was not dated but it was graced by a 19-cent stamp, which was the postcard rate from early 1991 through 1994. With that in mind, I suspect the card dates to the late 1980s. Anyway, I was surprised by how "dark" the Indian statue was back then compared to today (right photo). I'm not sure if the change was done on purpose but to me the skin tone of the present-day statue looks more Caucasian than Native American. Guess that shouldn't surprise me since Hollywood once used white actors to portray Indians in movies. Is also interesting how the design on the Indian's clothing has changed over time.
1 comment:
Excellent match on the position of the present-day photo.
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