William Big Charger

Grave of the Indian William Big Charger in Emden

William Big Charger (born July 10, 1872 in Horlte-Platte (North Dakota, USA), † May 27, 1932 in Emden .) Was an Indian from the Lakota - Sioux tribe , who performed in the Sarrasani circus at the beginning of the 20th century and brought Indian life close to the German audience. William Big Charger died during a guest performance by the circus in Emden. In addition to the grave in the cemetery of the Great Church in Emden, there is a second Indian grave in the New Catholic Cemetery in Dresden , where another Sarrasani Indian, Edward Two-Two , who died in 1914, found his final resting place.

Life

William Big Charger was an Indian from the Lakota-Sioux tribe who initially lived on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota . He was married to Lena Big Charger and had a daughter with her.

Hans Stosch-Sarrasani, director of the Sarrasani Circus, engaged a Sioux Indian for his performances for the first time in 1906/07. For many years it was the only circus that worked with real Indians. In the 1930s Charger was part of this Wild West show of the Sarrasani Circus with 22 Indians from the Lakota - Sioux tribe from the Pine Ridge Reservation . They stayed in Europe during the season and traveled to their homeland during the winter months. A large number of them belonged to the wealthier Indians there even before their engagement with Sarrasani.

Death and funeral

In 1932 the circus made a guest appearance in Emden. Accidents such as minor injuries and various illnesses increased there among the Indians. Charger had a high fever and pneumonia. His condition deteriorated more and more, so that on May 25, 1932 he was admitted to the Dr. Lüken Clinic. The circus meanwhile moved on to Groningen, where the next guest performance was planned.

For Charger, however, any help came too late. He died on May 27, 1932. After director Stosch-Sarrasani learned of the Indian's death, he immediately chartered two buses and drove with 100 of his employees, including the widow Lena, 20 other Sioux Indians, the Argentine circus band and representatives of the circus administration Emden to organize the funeral. The funeral sermon was held by the Catholic priest of Emden, whose congregation was also involved in the funeral service with a delegation. Then an Indian chief spoke a few words at the open coffin, before it was locked and, with great sympathy from the Emden population, led to the cemetery. There the pastor, a representative of the circus administration, spoke a few more words. An editor by the name of Pohl thanked the people of Emden for their sympathy before the tribal elder said a prayer in Chargers' native language.

At the turn of the millennium, Hartmut Rietschel from Dresden took over the costs of maintaining the grave and, like Edward Two-Two's final resting place in Dresden, kept it from leveling.

Web links

• cherokeepath.de

Individual evidence

1. ^ Elke Paschke: William Big Charger . Retrieved on February 17, 2015. There is an image of the death certificate with the life data.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Article in the Rhein Ems Zeitung of May 31, 1932 on the occasion of his funeral. An image of the article can be found on: Elke Paschke: William Big Charger . Retrieved February 17, 2015.
3. ↑ ^{a b} See the documents published on Elke Paschke: William Big Charger . Retrieved February 17, 2015.
4. ↑ Welt.de: Sarrasani circus lures with Sioux Indians . Retrieved February 17, 2015.
5. ↑ Wolfgang Klock: Lonely Indian grave on the North Sea coast . In: IFI Interest Group for Indian Studies : Kalumet No. 5 (September-October) 1967. P. 18
6. ↑ Ina Wagner: Indian burial: "I was able to observe them" . In: Emder Zeitung of June 7, 2012. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
7. ^ Stefan Locke A Sioux in Saxony . In FAZ of June 19, 2012. Retrieved on February 17, 2016.