Toy Bank: Hunter Shooting Bear c. 1938

Einar Heiberg created "Toy Bank: Hunter Shooting Bear" without a specified date, presenting us with more than just a playful image. It offers a lens through which to examine historical and cultural narratives around race and class. The depiction of the hunter, presumed to be an indigenous man, kneeling and aiming at a bear, is loaded. It evokes the complex history of colonial encounters, where the romanticized vision of the "Indian" often justified dispossession and violence. There's a tension here, as the figure is caught in the act of perpetuating a cycle of destruction. What does it mean to create a child’s toy out of this scene? It seems to reflect a society grappling with its identity, where frontier mythology and economic exploitation intersect, and the personal and cultural are deeply intertwined. The scene prompts us to reflect on the stories we tell ourselves about the past and their continued impact on our present.