Human Zoos Existed: 16 Depressing Photos That Will Destroy Your Faith In Humanity

Zoos induce rather mixed feelings; of course, you get to see your favorite animals up close, but then again, they are in captivity, and that’s not something great. All of that aside though, zoos are, in general, enjoyable places. Zoos that contain animals, that is.

But isn’t that the only kind of zoo there is? Well, we’re sorry to disappoint you; until the very recent future, another kind of zoo existed – human zoos. That’s right – human beings in captivity, and exhibited – funnily, to other human beings who paid to see them.
Believe us? No? Maybe you will after you see these pictures.

1. These Selk’Nam natives were exhibited in human zoos while being taken to Europe.

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4. Jardin d’Agronomie Tropicale – the human zoo of Paris.

In a grand, albeit twisted display of power, the French, in a bid to promote their colonizing power, built six villages in the Jardin d’Agronomie Tropicale, each representative of the Madagascar, Indochine, Sudan, Congo, Tunisia and Morocco – French colonies at the time, for an exhibition which lasted from May through October 1907.

5. Sarah Baartman – the girl who embodied the inhumanity of the human zoos, here, being “exhibited”.

messynessychic.com
In 1810, 20-year-old Sarah “Saartjie” Baartman was recruited by an exotic animal-dealer to be “exhibited”. With the promise and expectation of wealth and fame, Sarah traveled to London with him, where what followed was far from promised; having a genetic condition that led to Sarah possessing protruding buttocks and an elongated labia, she was the topic of much speculation and attraction. She was dressed in tight-fitting clothes and exhibited at sideshow attractions; she was exhibited as being a “novelty” – something “exotic”. She died, steeped in poverty, only to have her skeleton, brain, and sexual organs displayed in the Museum of Mankind in Paris till 1974. In 2002, following then-President Nelson Mandela’s request, her remains were repatriated. (source)

6. A “Negro Village” (As it was called) in Germany displaying a mother and her child.

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This exhibit was among the most popular there, and was even visited by Otto von Bismarck.

Another photo from the “Negro Village”:

7. Several indigenous people and African and Asian races were often caged and displayed in a makeshift “natural habitat”.

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These human displays were incredibly popular and were shown at world fairs across the world, from Paris to New York.

8. The Parisian World Fair, 1931.

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The 1931 exhibition in Paris was so successful that 34 million people attended it in six months; a smaller counter-exhibition – “The Truth on the Colonies”, organized by the Communist Party, attracted very few visitors.(source)

9. People visiting zoos during several world exhibitions were entertained by groups of pygmies who were forced to dance.

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10. In 1881, five Indians of the Kawesqar tribe (Tierra del Fuego, Chili) were kidnapped to be transported to Europe to be displayed.

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All of them died within a year.

11. Here, people of indigenous races are shown participating in archery at the “Savage Olympics Exhibition” organised in 1904 in St Louis by the whites.

dailymail.co.uk
Organised by the white Americans, The Savages’ Olympics consisted of Native Americans and other tribesmen from several corners of the world, such as Africa, South America, The Middle East, and Japan. The idea for an Olympics featuring these “savages” sprung from games director James Edward Sullen’s suggestion to implement this in order to prove that the “savages” were less athletic in comparison to “civilised”, white Americans. (source)