Lucy Nicolar Poolaw (June 22, 1882 – March 27, 1969), also called Wa-Tah-Wa-So and billed as Princess Watahwaso, was a

Penobscot The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic pr ...

and a performer on the

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua bro ...

and

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the th ...

circuits.

Early life

Lucy Nicolar (Wa-Tah-Wa-So) was born on the

Penobscot Indian Island Reservation Penobscot Indian Island Reservation (Abenaki: ''Álənαpe Mə́nəhan'') is an Indian reservation for the Penobscot Tribe of Maine, a federally recognized tribe of the Penobscot

in Maine, the daughter of Joseph Nicolar and Elizabeth Joseph, both Penobscot.Paige Lush
''Music in the Chautauqua Movement: From 1874 to the 1930s''
(McFarland 2013): 163-165. Her father was a lecturer, representative to the

Maine Legislature The Maine Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. The Legislature convenes at the State House in Aug ...

, and writer who published ''The Life and Traditions of the Red Man'' (1893). As a child Lucy Nicolar learned basketry and sold handmade goods with her family in

Kennebunkport, Maine Kennebunkport is a resort town in York County, Maine, York County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,629 people at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Portland, Maine, Portland–South Portland, Maine, Sout ...

. She and her sisters also sang for the tourists. As a teen, she was one of the charter members of the island's Wabanaki Club, a women's club admitted to the Maine Federation of Women's Clubs in 1897. During her late teens Nicolar began traveling to public performances at events such as sportsman's shows; during one such trip Nicolar caught the attention of a

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

administrator. He arranged opportunities for her to study music in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Career

Nicolar often combined political activism with entertainment. In January 1900, when 17 years old, Nicolar attended a debate on the subject of immigration in

. She silenced the attendees with the statement "I believe I am the only true American here." She then sat at a piano, sang a plaintive song and played Chopin, touching everyone in the room. Lucy Nicolar toured the United States using the stage name "Princess Watahwaso", on the

and

circuits beginning in 1916, singing songs, playing piano, telling stories, dancing, and wearing a fringed costume. She sang "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

" at the annual banquet of the Redpath-Vawter Chautauqua organization. She performed at New York's Aeolian Hall and was on the program for Music Day at the Woman's Press Club in New York in 1920. Writing about her show in 1920, the ''New York Times'' commented that "Watahwaso's native and acquired gifts produced a degree of charm not often heard in primitive music." Although it was presented as "primitive music", most of Princess Watahwaso's repertoire was written by non-Native composers, including

Thurlow Lieurance Thurlow Weed Lieurance (March 21, 1878 – October 9, 1963) was an American composer, known primarily for his song "By the Waters of Minnetonka". He is frequently categorized with a number of his contemporaries, including Charles Wakefield Cadman, ...

and

Charles Wakefield Cadman Charles Wakefield Cadman (December 24, 1881 – December 30, 1946) was an American composer. For 40 years he worked closely with Nelle Richmond Eberhart, who wrote most of the texts to his songs, including ''Four American Indian Songs''. She also ...

. Lucy Nicolar also made more than a dozen recordings for the

Victor Talking Machine Company The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidia ...

between 1917 and 1930. After 1929, she retired from the platform shows and Lucy Nicolar Poolaw and her husband ran a basket shop, Chief Poolaw's Teepee, in Maine. She was also active with her sisters Emma and Florence in working for Native American rights in Maine. Once Penobscot people living on reservation land in Maine secured the right to vote in 1955, Lucy Nicolar Poolaw cast the first ballot.Kylie Message
''Museums and Social Activism: Engaged Protest''
(Routledge 2013): 30.

Personal life

Lucy Nicolar married first in 1905, a doctor from Boston; they divorced in 1913. She married second to her manager and lawyer, Thomas F. Gorman, before 1918; they divorced too. Her third husband was Bruce Poolaw (1906-1984), a fellow entertainer. They retired to Maine together. Lucy Nicolar Poolaw died in 1969, aged 87 years, on Indian Island. The Poolaw's giftshop, renamed Princess Watahwaso's Teepee, is now a museum run by Lucy's nephew,

Charles Norman Shay Charles Norman Shay (born June 27, 1924) is a Penobscot tribal elder, writer, and decorated veteran of both World War II and the Korean War. Along with a Bronze Star and Silver Star, Shay was also awarded the Legion d'Honneur, making him the first ...

. One of Poolaw's baskets is in the collection of the

Oklahoma Historical Society The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma dedicated to promotion and preservation of Oklahoma's history and its people by collecting, interpreting, and disseminating knowledge and artifacts of Oklahoma. ...

. In 2010 and 2011, there was an exhibit about her, called "Aunt Lu: The Story of Princess Watahwaso", at the

Abbe Museum The Abbe Museum is a museum with two locations in Bar Harbor, Maine, on Mount Desert Island. The museum is dedicated to exploring the history and culture of Maine's Native people, the Wabanaki. It has one location at 26 Mount Desert Street in th ...

. Photographer

Horace Poolaw Horace Poolaw (1906–1984) was a Kiowa photographer from Mountain View, Oklahoma. Background Horace Poolaw, also known as Py-bo, was born on March 13, 1906 in Mountain View, Oklahoma. Poolaw was a notable Kiowa photographer and one of the first ...

was her brother-in-law.Christine Lin, "These Extended Families" ''The Epoch Times'' (November 18, 2014): B4. via

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

References

External links

* *Bunny McBride
''Princess Watahwaso: Bright Star of the Penobscot''
(2002), a short biography published as a book, by her nephew Charles Norman Shay. *Liz Sonneborn,
A to Z of American Indian Women
' (Infobase Publishing 2014). (includes an entry on Lucy Nicolar) {{DEFAULTSORT:Poolaw, Lucy Nicolar 1882 births 1969 deaths Penobscot people People from Penobscot Indian Island Reservation American suffragists Native American suffragists 20th-century Native Americans 20th-century Native American women