Got some minor criticism yesterday, for showing Olive Oatman topless during her stay with the Mojaves. Someone commented it looked too modern, and another claimed I was trying to be "historically salacious." Well, perhaps, but please check out this early photograph taken on the banks of the Colorado River:
Topless Mojave women at Fort Mojave, 1860s
This informed and inspired my cover idea of showing a topless Olive with her tats flying and her Mojave world behind her.
Daily Whip Out: "River of No Return"
And, if you think the top "topless" photo is an exception, here is a quartet of Mojave women in the studio:
Mojave Women In Formal Topless Wear
So, not only were the Mojaves way ahead of all those topless beaches on the French Riviera, they were also way ahead of the current tat culture:
Tatted-Out Mojave Woman
So, what can we conclude? Basically that the mighty Mojave Nation foreshadowed and predicted Millennial culture, over 160 years ago!
"Then I felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with wonder'ring eyes
He stared at the Pacific—and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien."
—John Keats
Thank you for posting this.
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