White Americans at the turn of the 20th century went to great lengths to force Indigenous peoples to assimilate and conform to Western culture. Interestingly, they also sought romantic and exotic ways to interact with Native American cultures. Tourism became a thriving industry as many Indigenous people successfully marketed their ethnicity to an eager White audience. For example, Satekenhatie Marion Patton Philips of Kahnawake, Québec, recalled that as a young woman she helped her mother produce beadwork to sell at the Toronto Exposition, beading items such as cloth horseshoes, boots, hearts, and picture frames. Families also made and sold baskets and beadwork in resort towns like Saratoga Springs, New York, and Niagara Falls.

Restricted to meeting the desires and tastes of customers, this limited interaction did little to communicate the richness and autonomy of Indigenous cultures to Whites. Other ways in which whites sought to “experience” Indigenous cultures included attending ceremonies and dances, and summer camps that had Native Americans on their staffs. Scenic routes like the Mohawk Trail in Western Massachusetts fed the appetites of tourists for Indigenous exoticism and “untamed” landscapes while allowing them to indulge their growing love affair with the automobile. Children across the nation participated in organizations such as the Boy Scouts and the Campfire Girls that emphasized Native American crafts and woodwork.

Stylized images of Native Americans also were part of the marketing. Artists like Frederick Remington presented images that generally romanticized and depersonalized “real” Native American people and their life experiences. Such images were, for many Whites, their only exposure to Indigenous cultures. Native American peoples, like their art, symbolized a connection with nature Whites felt their own culture had lost. Elijah Tahamont, an Abenaki from Lake George, New York, was a popular and highly paid model who posed frequently for Remington.