Representations of Native Americans in Disney Productions from Peter Pan to Pocahontas

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Historically the treatment of Native Americans has been highly problematic, especially throughout the colonization of the New World. Although, when colonising some Europeans took a merciful and sympathetic approach to the Native Americans, generally the treatment towards the indigenous people was not humane. Not only did the Native Americans die at the hand of the settlers, they also died from diseases that had been brought to the new world by explorers for which they had no immunity. In some cases diseases such as smallpox wiped out entire tribes. Together, the introduction of diseases and the actions of the European settlers had devastating effects on the Native Americans. In 1830 Native Americans were forced to relocate from the south eastern parts of the United States to reservations; a process known as the Indian Removal Act. This movement involved the Native Americans making a journey through what was called the Trail of Tears to the reservations. The removal included members of the Cherokee, Chickasaw and Seminole tribes amongst others, and was named the Trail of Tears because of the devastating effects it had on those that made the journey, often resulting in many dying from exposure, disease and starvation. The Indian Removal Act was a traumatic event for Native Americans because they were forced to leave their homeland despite the fact that the land belonged to them. This is problematic because the European Settlers felt superior to the Native Americans because of the colour of their skin and therefore, felt they were entitled to take control of America even though it was not their land. This resulted in a loss of identity for the Native Americans because they not only lost their homeland but also their Independence an... ... middle of paper ... ...y Native Americans in Pocahontas as negative caricatures would be politically incorrect To conclude, film has an intrinsic duty to “provide a face for the faceless [… it] creates the life and times that American society has only heard about or researched but never lived” (“The Role of Native Americans in Film”, n.d.) therefore it is influential over audiences who are educated by films. This is particularly relevant when considering the representations of race; Disney’s representation of Native Americans began as highly offensive and problematic with examples such as Peter Pan highlighting all the negative stereotypes. In contrast to this, Pocahontas is a more recent production from Disney Studios which represented Native Americans in a much fairer and just light, showing that Disney Studios have developed over time to show a more accurate and responsible portrayal.

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