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The Charlemont souvenir shop Native and Himalayan Views, formerly the Big Indian Shop, confirmed that it had removed the statue that sat along the Mohawk Trail on Route 2 for nearly 50 years.
The statue won't be down for long, however. The Hi-Way Cafe in Vinita, Oklahoma, announced on Facebook it had purchased the figure. The new owners said they would erect it along the famed Route 66 as soon as it arrives.
Critics have condemned the statue for years. A 2022 Change.org petition asking the owners to take it down garnered more than 1,300 signatures. For context, Charlemont had a population just south of 1,200 residents in the 2020 census.
The petition's organizers called it "racist stereotyping."
The caricature images found at Native and Himalayan Views continue to invisibilize hundreds of sovereign Nations and cultures and glorify the settler colonial action of westward expansion and manifest destiny as a way to dehumanize and erase Indigenous Peoples. Native People need to regain control over the representation of our own identities. While the owner of Native and Himalayan Views may believe he is “honoring” Native peoples and continuing a tradition of luring customers with the fantasy of “Indians,” we must address intention versus harm.
Despite the controversy, the statue was a popular tourist attraction. It is listed on several roadside attraction websites and travel books. Moreover, it had its supporters as well.
Some saw it as a monument of pride for Native American communities. Others saw it as an important local landmark.
"I like the original Native American Indian. My great-grandmother was a full-blooded Iroquois, and I hate that people are erasing the image," one person posted on the store's Facebook page.
"The Big Indian is like an old friend," another woman posted. "Leave him be."
Native and Himalayan Views' owners originally attempted to navigate a middle path through the controversy. Rather than remove it, they considered changing the statue's appearance.
The store posted three Photoshopped options online earlier this year and asked its Facebook followers to choose their favorite. Though, they never crowned a winner.
Native and Himalayan Views has other statues, including a large bear, but the store hasn't said if they plan to replace the Native American sculpture with something else.
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