Monday, July 25, 2016

Two Indian Villages, August 1970

Why have a single Indian Village in Frontierland when you can have two?? One was open to guests, and they could see various kinds of Indian dwellings, Native craftspeople at work, and the Dance Circle. 

In the 1950's and 1960's, Westerns were immensely popular in the U.S., but by 1970, the public's interest in cowboys and Indians had faded. This village closed in May of 1971, less than a year after this photo was taken. In 1972, Bear Country opened in the same spot.


Further along the river, guests could view the "Friendly Indian Village" from the Mark Twain, the Keel Boats, the Columbia, and the Canoes (and the Disneyland Railroad, I believe). The village showed a peaceful tribe grinding corn, drying meat, preparing hides, and other activities that were a part of life on the plains (and elsewhere). As most of you know, this was recently razed as part of the Star Wars Land construction.


11 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:37 AM

    Wow, first post?

    I see some telephone wires in the first picture, very cool.

    I continue to hope that the SWL construction will improve these elements and not make them worse. After all, Bear Country was beneficial, and the recent CarsLand is pretty good too.

    JG

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  2. JG, I guess everyone's off playing "Pokemon GO"!

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  3. I was trying to figure out where the railroad tracks would be in that first pic. We appear to be facing west towards the berm, so I'm guessing that the train tracks are hidden in there somewhere between the berm and the dance circle?

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  4. It's the telephone wires that make the first image special. Otherwise it's just another "Indian Village" pic.

    It's too bad they didn't have a "Hostile Indian Village". That would've made things more interesting. The "Native Americans" could've been shooting arrows at the guests on the Mark Train. Of course they'd be rubber suction cup tipped arrows. Thanks, Major.

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  5. Well, Ken there was the unfriendly Indians that lived on Tom Sawyer's Island in between Fort Wilderness and the Burning Settler's Cabin. I think there might have been some teepees but I mostly remember the elevated burial stands visible from the river.

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  6. Major-

    In our household, it's more like "Pokemon NO-!" following a too-close call facing death straight-on-!

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  7. TokyoMagic!, I think your guess is just about the only place the tracks could be, right back there in the shadows. I don’t remember passing that close to the Indian Village, but then again it was a long time ago…

    K. Martinez, I actually love the idea of a “Hostile Indian Village” (complete with rubber tipped arrows) - that would have been very fun. I suppose that the people who objected to the burning settler’s cabin would *really* have a fit, though!

    Patrick Devlin, I should have read your comment before I replied to K. Martinez. In general, Indians were portrayed in a fairly positive light in Frontierland, but I’m glad they didn’t completely ignore the hostilities (though the concept of who the “good guys” and “bad guys” were would have changed over the years).

    Nanook, was this a case of somebody almost walking off of a cliff or something? I've heard stories like that. I almost want to play Pokemon Go!, except that I'm too lazy.

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  8. Patrick Devlin, I remember that "Unfriendly Indian Village". I was thinking more along the lines of an interactive experience with the guests as opposed to a static village display. And who needs it to be a good guys bad guys thing. Just make it about conflict. Frontierland is just too tame for my tastes.

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  9. @ Major-

    Oh no - that was just my attempt at 'humor'.

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  10. I always feel the fool pointing out the obvious to this crowd, but I keep doing it. I've got a flat learning curve...

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  11. Remember going to the village and talking to the Indian Chief. My Mom was interested in basket weaving and spend some time talking the folks they had there doing their thing. Must have been late 60s 'cause I actually have fairly sharp memories of it. Then it was usually off to the Davy Crockett shooting gallery.

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