Miss Columbia and her mother at Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Seattle, 1909 (MOHAI 4140)

Pictured are Miss Columbia and her mother, Esther Eneutseak. They were part of a group from Labrador who performed in Seattle at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition's "Eskimo Village" in 1909. Eneutseak was brought from Labrador to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where Columbia was born. Eneutseak recruited other Inuit from Labrador to perform in later expositions, including the 1900 World's Fair in Paris. At the AYPE, Columbia was named "Queen of the Pay Streak", and the most beautiful woman at the exposition. Columbia later went on to write and star in the first Hollywood film with a credited Inuit cast.
Caption on image: Miss Columbia & her mother from Labrador.

Caption information source: Inuit Entertainers in the United States from the Chicago World's Fair through the Birth of Hollywood, by Jim Zwick, 2006.
Subjects (LCTGM): Inuit--Washington (State)--Seattle; Exhibitions--Washington (State)--Seattle; Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909 : Seattle, Wash.)
People: Miss Columbia