Judge — October 24, 1903 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This 1903 Judge cartoon satirizes American Indian land rights. The scene depicts Native Americans being forcibly excluded from their own territory by armed settlers and officials bearing "Private" signs ("Private Road," "Private Lake," "Private Cliff," "Keep Off & Out"). The title's reference to "American Indian" combined with the "Hun" label suggests the cartoon critiques the irony and injustice of dispossession—indigenous peoples are treated as invaders on their ancestral lands. The armed figures represent the colonizing forces that seized and privatized Native territories. The sun symbol with radiating lines appears to represent divine approval or natural law, possibly mocking the settlers' justifications for taking the land. The cartoon criticizes the hypocrisy of American expansion and property claims built on displacement of Native peoples.