Pan-American African Village

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This pamphlet was presented to individuals visiting the Pan-American African Village. The pamphlet provided an overview and explanation of the village and reflects the understanding of the culture for that time.

The African Village was featured on the Midway of the Pan-American Exposition held in Buffalo in 1901. From May to October, eleven tribes from the West Coast of Africa demonstrated village life, performed dances, and produced hand crafts. Their presence had been arranged by a French explorer, Xavier Pene, with the sponsorship of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences. Thanks to the efforts of Elizabeth J. Letson, Director of the BSNS, the Society was to receive the collection of artifacts exhibited at the museum in the village once the exhibition closed.

Billed as "Darkest Africa: Real African Life in a Real African Village", the village claimed to have 98 natives representing 11 tribes from the West Coast of Africa, many from the Congo River region. The Africans brought with them the materials and household utensils they needed to build traditional huts. They also brought implements of labor, weapons of war and the chase. The artifacts included spears, axes, knives, and swords.

Native craftsmen were represented by cloth weavers, basket weavers, gold workers and carvers of ivory. Both men and women performed dances in an open pavilion. Musical instruments used and exhibited were whistles, horns, bells, drums, and stringed instruments from many tribes.

Among the tribes that were represented at the African Village were the Dahomey, Bojokwe, Gabon, Basonge, Baluba, Ashanti, and the Bakongo.

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