Annual Orton P. Camp Lecture: The Pretendian Pharmacist of Waterbury
Join Assistant Curator Becca Lo Presti as she investigates the life and legacy of Chief Two Moon, a Waterbury resident who built a successful pharmaceutical industry on his alleged identity as an Indigenous herbalist. This talk will explore how Chico C. Meridas, better known as Chief Two Moon, fabricated his background to market his business in an era already rife with Indigenous imagery in medical advertisements. Using objects and archives from the Mattatuck Museum’s collection, Meridas’s decades-long career will also…
when
September 16, 2024 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
where
144 W Main St
Waterbury,
CT
United States
about
Join Assistant Curator Becca Lo Presti as she investigates the life and legacy of Chief Two Moon, a Waterbury resident who built a successful pharmaceutical industry on his alleged identity as an Indigenous herbalist. This talk will explore how Chico C. Meridas, better known as Chief Two Moon, fabricated his background to market his business in an era already rife with Indigenous imagery in medical advertisements. Using objects and archives from the Mattatuck Museum’s collection, Meridas’s decades-long career will also be placed within a larger history of “Pretendian” celebrities, academics, and business people who claimed Indigenous ancestry for personal and financial gain.
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Sponsored by Orton P. Camp Jr.