28.9.13

Found: Lance Little Eagle, Wisconsin Dells

Found: Lance Little Eagle, Native Winnebago Indian
 Wisconsin River Guide
Autographed and dated 7/24/76
Photo by John A. Trumble
Published by Dells Photo Service, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Circa 1960s

Found: FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND mark the trail of a beautiful maiden as she welcomes
a visitor at sunset along the shores of the Wisconsin River.
Photo by John A. Trumble.
Published by Dells Photo Service, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Circa 1960s

John A. Trumble tapped into the fashion sensibilities of the swinging 1960s to depict "Native Winnebago Indians" in Wisconsin Dells. Kicky mini-skirted "Indian Maidens" and groovy long-haired bell-bottom wearing Indian boys predated Cher's glittery-feathered cover of a ballad of Cherokee-strife called "Half-Breed" in 1973 (written by Al Capps and Mary Dean). Trumble's images fueled the Wisconsin "tourism craze" for hiring native Americans as Wisconsin River Guides in the 1960s and 1970s. Selling autopgraphed postcard portraits of the guides for profit was integral and working for the tourism industry provided a livlihood for displaced Ho-Chunk (then known as Winnebago) whose other alternative was working the cranberry bogs. Though there is little evidence of Trumble's work accessible to us today, we note he self-published a 31 page book of his photographs titled The Dells of the Wisconsin River in 1965 and left a legacy of these kitschy Native American chic postcards to ponder.

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