It’s a photograph taken in 1954. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra was in Cut Bank, Montana, smoking a peace pipe with Blackfoot Chief Theodore Last Star. Eastern leaders, from India, to Pakistan and even Iran, had a bit of a fascination with Native American culture, with cowboy stories and with the stories of unbroken tribes, refusing to bend the knee to their overlords in Washington.
At some point, even the Shah of Iran invited a Native American chief to celebrate his birthday, back in 1971.
This particular chief caused somewhat of a stir when, unaware of court protocol, he asked the Shah to “stand with him in brotherhood” as he delivered his speech. The speech was then cut short — the Shah, as it just so happened, was NEVER asked to stand up for anyone. Such a request had not been made in 2500 years. Chief Earl Old Person, however, had asked him to. And yes that was his literal name… Chief Earl Old Person. It’s amazing.
Just as far as visuals are concerned, however, nothing quite beats the photograph of Mohammad Ali Bogra smoking a peace pipe with Chief Lone Star. Squint your eyes and, amidst the smoke, Bogra and Lone Star are brothers of one tribe. In a sense, the descendants of America’s first rulers and the rulers of the newly free post-colonial world were kindred spirits… born worlds apart and yet both, for most of their lives, oppressed by the same powers that be.
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