The Lost Tribe of Coney Island: Headhunters, Luna Park, and the Man Who Pulled off the Spectacle of the Century

Summary (from the publisher): Coney Island, summer 1905: a new attraction opened at Luna Park. Within weeks it would be the talk of the nation.

For the first time, The Lost Tribe of Coney Island unearths the incredible true story of the Igorrotes, a group of “headhunting, dog eating” tribespeople brought to America from the Philippines by the opportunistic showman Truman K. Hunt. At Luna Park, the g-string-clad Filipinos performed native dances and rituals before a wide-eyed public in a mocked-up tribal village. Millions of Americans flocked to see the tribespeople slaughter live dogs for their daily canine feasts and to hear thrilling tales of headhunting. The Igorrotes became a national sensation—they were written up in newspaper headlines, portrayed in cartoons, and even featured in advertising jingles, all fueled by Truman’s brilliant publicity stunts.

By the end of the summer season, the Igorrote show had made Truman a rich man. But his genius had a dark side and soon he would be on the run across America with the tribe in tow, pursued by ex-wives, creditors, Pinkerton detectives, and the tireless agents of American justice.

Award-winning journalist Claire Prentice brings this forgotten chapter in American history to life with vivid prose and rich historical detail. The book boasts a colorful cast of characters, including the mercurial Truman Hunt; his ambitious, young Filipino interpreter, Julio Balinag; Fomoaley Ponci, the tribe’s loquacious, self-important leader; Luna Park impresarios Fred Thompson and Elmer “Skip” Dundy; and Frederick Barker, the government man dead set on bringing Truman to justice.

At its heart, The Lost Tribe of Coney Island is a tale of what happens when two cultures collide in the pursuit of money, adventure, and the American Dream. It is a story that makes us question who is civilized and who is savage.

 

Review: I received an advance copy of this book from Net Galley.

 

This work of non-fiction details the true story of Truman Hunt, who orchestrated the passage of a group of tribespeople known as the Igorrotes from the Philippines to America for the express purpose of putting them on tour to make himself rich. Millions of people flocked to Coney Island and similar attractions to see the "dog-eating" tribespeople in their mock village. However, over time, it quickly became obvious that Truman was never going to keep his promise of paying the tribespeople or of getting them home at the end of their contract. Increasingly, Truman became to abuse the Igorrotes, treating them poorly, and forcing them to live in deplorable conditions.

 

Obviously the whole scenario is egregious. It's disturbing that the Igorrotes were paraded as a freak show purely for profit, their customs and cultures portrayed as shocking and heinous. "They were billed as 'dog-eating, head-hunting savages' and 'the most primitive people in the world.'" Although unthinkable today, "human zoos" were a reality of the time period, and in fact were popular for many decades. However, the exploitation the Igorrotes faced at the hands of Hunt was not typical or normal. "After one hundred and sixty days in the United States, twelve thousand miles by train and sea on the outward journey alone, and thousands of tribal performances before millions of Americans in fifty towns and cities, their financial rewards came to just thirty dollars and eighty-five cents each." Truman fed and clothed the Igorrotes horribly, forcing them to stay in foul and impossibly crowded housing, or even in tents. In addition, after not paying the tribespeople for nearly a year, they resorted to selling money they earned from selling souvenirs. Truman forcibly ripped and tore this money away from them in a fury when he discovered their actions.

 

Even discounting the disgust I felt for how Truman treated people who remained kind and patient throughout their ordeal, I was less than impressed with the writing of this history. Specifically, the author had the irritating tendency to set up fictional, imagined scenes involving the characters. For example, "Trains rattled through the backyard, just feet from where they lay, but it was not the noise that kept them awake. Feloa lay thinking of his wife and his three young children, wishing he had never left them." Later, "walking over to the window, Barker hauled it open and dropped the spider's web, complete with its supper of flies, into the air." Given that this is a non-fiction work, I am shocked that the editor allowed such obvious fictional details to stand.

 

Sadly, much of the knowledge of what happened to the Igorrotes after they left America has been lost. After surviving over a year of torment and dishonest behavior at the hands of an "alcoholic bigamist," I can only hope that their luck improved. 

 

Stars: 2