Maine Memory Network

The Improved Order of Red Men (IORM) bills itself as the oldest fraternal organization in the United States, "descending" from the Revolutionary secret societies such as the Sons of St. Tammany and Sons of Liberty who dressed as Native people to conceal their identities as they dumped tea into Boston Harbor to protest the Tea Act in 1773.

White settler colonialists—American Revolutionaries—appropriated Native culture, going so far as to create a new and "improved Red Men" based upon their consumption of Native people—complete with Indian names, ceremonies, clothing, and symbols. Of course, this was only possible after the settler colonialists felt they had assimilated or eradicated Native people to a point where they could admire them. This badge came from the Sanford Sagamore Tribe, No. 33, of the Improved Order of Red Men.

A Boy Scout in uniform bit into a pancake he made with other Boy Scouts. The cooking was done in Portland's Monument Square.

Groups like the Boy Scouts, Campfire Girls, and Improved Order of the Red Men appropriated Native culture. At the same time they were admiring the perceived Indigenous traditions and perpetuated myths about Indigenous people, Native people were being removed from their Homelands, were prevented from speaking their languages or practicing their traditions, and were resisting having their cultures erased through forced assimilation.

Farmington State Normal School (FSNS) classmates Dorothy (Dot) Carville and Lillian Gould were dressed in Camp Fire Girls outfits and posed on Main Street in downtown Farmington. The Camp Fire Girls were the sister organization to the Boy Scouts of America, whose uniforms appropriated the fashion of Native American regalia.

There were several Camp Fire groups at FSNS from 1915 to the 1920s. These women were members of a group sponsored by faculty member Carolyn Stone. Dot and Lillian were also members of the class of 1918.

In spring 1915, the first Camp Fire girls group (Soangetaha) at Farmington State Normal School organized with 20 members, under the guidance of faculty member Carolyn Stone.

According to "The Farmington Normal" of June 1915, the organization’s purpose was to train girls to "greater efficiency,...help them appreciate the beauty in nature, and…promote social life." Its watchword was Wohelo (Work, Health and Love).

Girls received symbolic beads that were worn with the ceremonial costume when they completed work. Ranks included Wood Gatherer, Fire Maker, and Torch Bearer.

The law of the Camp Fire was: Seek beauty, Give service, Pursue knowledge, Be trustworthy, Hold on to health, Glorify work and Be happy.

Actor, director, producer Joseph Jovite "J. J." Salvas dressed as the Indian "Tonkourou," Biddeford, circa 1925.

The play "Tonkourou: or the Indian's Vengance," was put on several times by Salvas' amateur troupe of Franco players.

Salvas' troupe operated throughout most of the first half of the 20th century, and performed to Franco and non-Franco audiences around southern Maine.

Children from the Chestnut Street School performed as Native people and Pilgrims during Thanksgiving Day exercises.

Ideas about "Americanization" perpetuated stereotypes about Indigenous people, and by dressing up, or "playing Indian" they took on the identity of what they perceived as "Indian" and erased the lived experiences of actual Native people.

Students, from left, Hung Wong, Robert Geller, Bella Geller, and Charles Wong of the Woolson School in Portland dress as Pilgrims and Indians in a re-enactment of the first Thanksgiving.

Several of the city's Americanization classes were held at the Woolson School, which drew students from the city neighborhoods where many newcomers settled.

In Portland and across the nation, historical pageantry was frequently incorporated into the Americanization curriculum as a way to teach immigrants and their children about the rights and responsibilities of American citizenship.

The photograph was published in the Portland Sunday Telegram on December 2, 1923.