THOUSAND OAKS : Exhibit Pays Tribute to Indian Leaders

Life-size models of a dozen American Indian leaders ranging from Chief Joseph to Cornplanter will be on exhibit this week at The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks.

The exhibit, which includes biographies of each of the men portrayed, was put together by Encyclopaedia Britannica and has been shown at hundreds of malls and children’s museums throughout the country. It opens Wednesday and will be on view through Sunday during mall hours.

Each of the 12 military chiefs and spiritual leaders depicted came from a different tribe and a different part of the country. The exhibit shows the various styles of dress worn by the different tribes.

Among the more well-known of the American Indians shown is Cochise, the Apache chief who led resistance to whites’ incursions into the Southwest in the 1860s. A less famous figure in the exhibit is Cornplanter, a Seneca chief from New York who stressed negotiations with whites over warfare. Cornplanter eventually incurred the suspicions of white settlers and of his own tribe because of his efforts to preserve peace.