Basking in Centuries of Culture

A few weekends back, I went for a hike out at Pere Marquette, where the top of the hill rewards you with a breathtaking view of the backwater tributaries of the Mississippi river valley. The lobby of the visitor center at Pere Marquette also had something rather...uh...breathtaking.

I can honestly say I've never seen buckskin pants, a fur loin cloth, and a lollipop-feathered headdress all together in one ensemble quite like this.

Although the model shown here is undeniably making it look fierce (not a trace of silly candy-schlepping-salesman-type pandering; simply stoic candy-coated pride), and I'm always a fan of mixed media and quirky cultural intermingling, and I'm sure the suckers are delicious, I have to wonder whether hundreds of years of tribal civilization were *really* supposed to culminate in this.

Ultimately, I give a bewildered salute to the determined sculptor with a sweet tooth who brought us this strange modern masterpiece. Tasty, but not tasteful.