The Igorrote Tribe Traveled the World for Show And Made These Two Men Rich
In the months that followed, Hunt made hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Igorrotes — on top of ticket receipts, enthralled bystanders threw coins at the feet of the performers. Instead of allowing the Igorrotes to keep their tips from the crafts they sold, as he had promised, he insisted that they turn over the proceeds for safekeeping. He
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The most popular exhibit in this “human zoo” were the Igorrotes, who ate dog meat and hunted heads. The man in charge of the Igorrote village, Truman Hunt, had served as a medical doctor during the war and stayed on, eventually rising to become the lieutenant governor of Bontoc Province.
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Then, in 1906, Hunt’s enterprise came to an end when he was arrested after rumors broke out how he held the Igorots’ wages he had earlier promised them and that two of the tribesmen in his group who had died were left unburied.
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It was just before 5:15 a.m. on Monday, May 15, 1905, when the Igorrotes’ car pulled up to the platform, giving a jolt, which woke the handful of tribespeople who were sleeping under a pile of rough military blankets.