Biak Natives "Sing Sing" 7

http://archives.library.eou.edu/images/2010.1.310.jpg

Bibliographic Information

Title

Biak Natives "Sing Sing" 7

Subject

Birthdays
Children
Mothers
Native peoples

Description

"Native women at a Sing Sing in Honor of Netherlands Queen Wilamina's Birthday - We paid a few Guilders to have these permit us to photograph their faces. Otherwise the women always turned away" From "Darkroom Soldier": "Queen Wilhelmina's Birthday Party. In 1944, Biak was part of the Netherlands East Indies, a Dutch colony whose reigning monarch was the popular Queen Wilhelmina. By August 1944, her birthday on the 31st had become Koninginnedag, a national holiday. As Hill recorded, men, women, and children on Biak observed their 'Queen's' 66th birthday -- and perhaps the end of Japanese control -- with apparent gusto by singing and dancing and drumming and playing and feasting on the beach. With Japanese forces diminished, 'Netherlands officials [by August 31 were gradually bringing] the native population back under Dutch control as rapidly as each area was cleared of troops. Some native laborers were supplied to the HURRICANE Task Force, and native scouts proved of real help during mopping-up operations." ("Darkroom Soldier" caption authored by George Venn)

Creator

Hill, Fred

Date

8/31/1944

Rights

(c)Eastern Oregon University. This image is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial - No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/). Acknowledgement of Eastern Oregon University as a source is required. For print quality images, prints, or high resolution tiff files, or commercial uses please contact the Library Director at Eastern Oregon University.

Identifier

2010.1.310