Performance and Protest: Inuit of Labrador and the World's Columbian Exposition, 1893

In the summer of 1892, an American company charted a schooner to coastal Labrador to recruit Inuit for an ethnological exhibit to be presented the following year at the World's Columbian Exposition. Promised wages, room and board, and hunting provisions upon their return, sixty Inuit boarded the Evelena in the fall, bound for Chicago.

Performance and Protest delves into the story of Inuit at the Exposition--examining not only where they went and what transpired during their time in Chicago, but also who they were. Presented as a living exhibit to contrast the fair's broader effort to highlight the progress and achievements of Western civilization, the men, women, and children housed at the exposition were portrayed as a primitive and exotic people.

Subjected to poor living conditions and denied agency in their representation, their dissatisfaction grew, culminating in a landmark moment when the Inuit challenged their exploitation in court and set up their own independent camp outside the Exposition grounds. This defiant act not only questioned the fairness of their treatment, but also challenged the pervasive narratives that had been imposed upon them, forcing a reconsideration of their humanity and cultural dignity.

By unravelling the complexities of their representation and experiences, Performance and Protest offers a valuable understanding of Inuit identity, resilience, and agency in a period marked by exploitation.