Raymond Wilson
Special to ICT
During the early 20th century, Lucy Nicolar and Molly Spotted Elk faced racial discrimination as female Native performers. They were drawn into the stereotypical world of Wild West and vaudeville shows, adopting pseudonyms as Native “princesses.”
As activists, however, they focused on fighting such bigotry and demanding better treatment of Native Americans. And in 1955, Nicolar became the first Native American to cast a ballot in Maine on a reservation.
Lucy Nicolar (1882-1969)
Nicolar was born on the Penobscot Reservation on Indian Island, Maine, on June 22, 1882. Her father, Joseph Nicolar, worked as a farmer, land surveyor, and writer. He wrote articles on the Penobscot, and authored an 1893 book, “The Life and Traditions of the Red Man.” He also represented the Penobscot in the state Legislature.
Her mother Elizabeth, a skillful basketmaker, was recognized for her intellectual and leadership abilities. Both parents raised Lucy and her two sisters in an environment that stressed political, social, and educational opportunities.
To earn income, during the summer months Lucy, family members, and other Penobscot traveled to Kennebunkport, Maine, to sell baskets and other Indigenous items, and to perform dances and songs for tourists.
Not much is known about her formal education, but she is believed to have attended a Catholic missionary school before having to quit to help with family expenses after her father died.
She wasn’t shy about speaking her mind, however. A report of Lucy attending an immigration discussion in New York City in January 1900 describes her response to non-Native people in the audience who declared that immigration was a major threat to “true Americans.” Lucy spoke up, saying she was the only “true American,” and detailing how the Penobscot were severely mistreated.
At the meeting, organizers then announced that the scheduled musical numbers were cancelled because the pianist was ill, and asked if someone wanted to play. Lucy volunteered and amazed the audience with selections from Chopin and a sad Native song.
Her musical talents drew further recognition, and she was later helped by a non-Native Harvard University administrator, who was aware of the hardships the Penobscot had endured. Lucy acquired more musical knowledge and began to identify herself as Princess Watahwaso, and performed in New York City, Boston and Chicago.
She became a popular chautauqua, lyceum, and vaudeville performer, first as a contracted performer for Redpath Chautauqua Bureau and later with the Keith Vaudeville Circuit. Her classical and Native selections resulted in her signing a contract with Victor Talking Machine Company, making a number of recordings between 1917 and 1930.
Lucy was married three times, with the first two ending in divorce. Her second husband was her manager; he stole her money and fled to Mexico in 1929. She then married Bruce Poolaw, a Kiowa performer whom she had met earlier while touring.
They returned to Indian Island in Maine where they operated a successful gift shop, called Poolaw’s Indian TeePee, and entertained tourists.
Lucy, her sister and other Penobscot continued their efforts to improve reservation conditions, however. They convinced the State of Maine to build a bridge to their reservation island and supported programs to help Penobscot students in public schools.
Additionally, Lucy and others finally convinced Maine to allow the Penobscot the right to vote in 1955. Lucy was the first Native American to cast a ballot.
She died on March 27, 1969, at age 86. One of her beautiful baskets is in the Oklahoma Historical Society collection.The Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine, also held a special exhibit on her in 2010 and 2011.
Molly Spotted Elk (1903-1977)
Born on Nov. 17, 1903, on the Penobscot Reservation on Indian Island, Maine, her Penobscot name was Molly Dellis (a Catholic priest changed it to Molly Alice). She was the oldest of 8 children.
Like other Penobscot, family income relied on basketmaking and singing and dancing for tourists. Her mother, Philomene Saulis Nelson, was a skilled basketmaker.
Her father, Horace Nelson, spent one year as a student at Dartmouth College in 1901, served a two-year term as a Penobscot representative in the Maine Legislature in 1921-1922, and also served two years as tribal chief in1939 and 1940.
Molly attended a Catholic missionary school for six years on Indian Island and later Old Town Junior High, a public school in Maine, where she, like other Native American students, was a victim of discrimination. She graduated in 1917, but did not complete her high school education.
Molly loved singing and dancing, and in 1918, performed with an Indian vaudeville company.
In 1924, Dr. Frank Speck, who conducted research on the Penobscot and served as anthropology chair at the University of Pennsylvania, convinced Molly to enroll and played a major role in her time there. She audited anthropology courses and presented lectures.
Lacking monetary income, Molly left the university and became a performer for a short time for Miller Brothers’ 101 Ranch Wild West Show. Discontented with how the show’s attractions were performed, she quit in 1925.
Molly then moved to New York City, where she modeled for some famous artists, performed songs on the radio program, the “Children’s Hour,” and danced at Broadway clubs. She often performed in a Native headdress and scanty attire.
Her performances were instrumental in Molly being hired as the leading female actor in “The Silent Enemy,” a silent film about the Ojibwe with an entire Native American cast. Filmed in Ontario, Canada, and released in 1930, movie critics wrote positive reviews, but it did not do well at the box office.
Molly appeared as an extra in other movies, including “Ramona,” “The Last of the Mohicans,” and “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” all in 1936, and “Lost Horizons” and “The Good Earth,” both in 1937.
During the 1930s, Molly travelled to and lived in France. She was the opening performer at the International Colonial and Overseas Exposition in Paris in 1931.
In France, she met Jean Archambaud, a French journalist, with whom she had a daughter before their marriage in 1939. Molly suffered tragedies when her second daughter died at just a few weeks old, and her husband died in a German refugee camp in 1941, after Germany occupied France. Fortunately, Molly and her first daughter escaped and returned to the Penobscot Reservation. She continued to suffer mental anguish and became a patient for a year at Bangor State Mental Hospital in 1948.
Her health continued to decline, and she lived a lonely life on the reservation making Native baskets and dolls. After a severe fall, she died on Feb. 21, 1977 at age 73.
Newspapers at home and abroad published many articles on Molly. She kept diaries, wrote poems, had articles published, and completed an unpublished book manuscript on the Penobscot. In 2003, her writings were published in “Katahdin: Wigwam’s Tales of the Abnaki Tribe.”
The Smithsonian Institution has some of her Native dolls, and the Native American Hall of Honor made her a charter member in 1986.
Both Lucy and Molly lived in an era of discriminatory attacks on Native Americans and of legislation to eliminate Native beliefs. They never abandoned their Native heritage, which they often incorporated into their performances before non-Native audiences.
Sources: Molly Spotted Elk Collection, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University of Maine; New England Historical Society; Cultural & Historical Preservation, Penobscot Nation website; publications by Bunny McBride.