Couple in the Cage

In the first chapter of “Going Native,” Huhndorf goes into great depth talking about both the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, 1876 and the World Columbian Exhibition, 1893. She discusses how native peoples were put on display (and later the 6 Eskimos in 1897): “All the village displays featured indigenous peoples as representatives of their respective cultures. Organizers employed them to go about their daily lives in these stimulated environments for the amusement of onlookers.” (Page 42)

Her description reminded me of a performance art piece titled “Couple in the Cage,” which was performed/documented in 1993 and then made into a 30-minute video. The piece was conceptualized by Paula Heredia and Coco Fusco and then performed by Fusco and Guillermo Gomez-Pena. Fusco and Gomez-Pena claimed to be Amerindians from the imaginary island of Gautinau, off the coast of Mexico. The couple stood on display in a large gold cage that would travel to various museums in major cities (New York, Paris, etc.) In the cage, the couple dressed in “traditional” garb and going about “traditional” chores (making voodoo dolls to watching TV). The intent of the artists was to recreate how indigenous people have been put on public display throughout history.
The strength of the piece truly comes from the reactions of museum patrons. For the museum visitor, at first, they weren’t quite sure what to make of what they were viewing. Was it a joke? Was it for real? As a result the reactions amongst the audience varied. Some laughed, some heckled and some cried as they felt the injustice and unfairness that the couple were forced to endure.

Another part of the piece was that for a small fee of a dollar, the couple would pose for pictures with you, they would dance, or they would tell native stories in their native tongue (a bunch of sounds strung together). However, for the price of $5, you could pay to take a peek at their genitalia. The amount of people who paid these fees was astounding. There has been almost 120 years between the Philadelphia Exposition and the performance of a “Couple in the Cage.” However, it seems that people are still just as intrigued by Native Americans/indigenous people as the other and still feel the need to put them on public display.