Reel Injun is a compelling, thought-provoking documentary that shows how movies have stereotyped Native Americans, and has shaped how society in general viewed Natives. The film seeks to show how Natives really are, and ultimately seeks to correct the Native stereotypes created through the Hollywood Native films. Neil Diamond discusses why films about Natives were originally created and how Natives were portrayed in the early years of film. Through the documentary he continues to show how Natives and their culture changed in the eyes of society. Neil Diamond reveals the truth behind the Native stereotypes and the effects it left on the Natives. He begins by showing how Hollywood generalizes the Natives from the clothing they wore, like feathers …show more content…
and body paint to them riding horses bareback. Actor and director Clint Eastwood, says in the film "I remember once we were on a set and the director says 'I want to see a real native, upfront. I want to see the real thing'. We couldn't find one!" Charlie Hill mentions this in a comedic way by saying “Chuck Connors as Geronimo! That’s like Adam Sandler as Malcolm X!”, while Chris Eyre says “White people playing native roles? I love it, because it’s funny.”. With that the directors and filmmakers brought the Caucasians to play the Natives in films, and ensured they all looked and acted the same. This gave them the opportunity to portray Natives in any way they liked. They showed them as uneducated and uncivilized drunks for instance when they created western films and made the Caucasians dress respectable and look educated while they made the Native barely speak and when they did because they were played by Caucasians that were body painted they just had the actors speak English and then roll it backwards to make it sound like gibberish; this in turn stripped the Native cultures of their individuality. That left society to picture Natives only as the Natives shown in movies. Most, if not all Americans believed that what they saw in movies or rather Hollywood's representation of the Natives were really what all the Natives as a whole were all about, when in reality there was much more then that under the surface that they didn't bother to think about because it was never being represented in the media. Films about Natives were created as early as the first motion picture. They became popular due to the common false belief that Natives were going extinct, using that false principle as a bases and excuse to portrayed them almost like they weren't human. John Trudell says “We’re not Indians and we’re not Native Americans. We’re older than both concepts. We’re the people, we’re the human beings.” This showed the truth behind the Native American. They also created the myth of the "Indian princess Pocahontas" and often grouped all Natives together as one and left no room for complexity between the different cultures. Natives that were growing up often looked to the movie screen and began to associate themselves with the Natives the saw on the big screen. This often left the young Natives confused about their identity, and who they were. Jesse Wente says “When you’re kids and you’re trying to play Cowboys and Indians, and if you’re an Indian kid – well, doesn’t that mean you’re going to lose all the time?”. This shows clearly the impact the movies had on the young Native children. Neil Diamond continued to show how the Native Americans and their cultures changed in the eyes of society and how it was shown through the stretch of movies that were released after the 1960's with movies like Smoke Signals that were wide spread and showed the true Native American in many ways, they showed the complexity of the different tribes, showed that some where just like the Caucasians in that they didn't know how to ride horses or dress in feathers, furthermore they showed some things that were true to them like driving 'rez-cars' which they described as beaten up and old often on the edge of breaking down.
They brought real Natives to play the Natives on the big screen and eventually movies were created by Natives themselves. Around the same time was the Hippie movement; many people wanted to be like the Natives they saw in the films even though it was not an accurate depiction of the Natives. They liked the 'positive stereotypes' of the Natives in the movies, the family unity and their strength as warriors. In the 1960's the American Indian Movement (AIM) also began and in 1973 The genocide at Wounded Knee occurred. Jim Jarmusch says “That is a genocide that occurred and the [American] culture wanted to perpetrate the idea that [the natives] these people are now mythological, you know, they don’t even really exist, they’re like dinosaurs.” This shows just how much Americans wanted to belittle the Natives, and despite succeeding for a number of years, the New Age of Cinema commenced and movies like Smoke Signals began what some would look at as a Renaissance. The Renaissance explained in Reel Injun discusses the rebirth of the Native American in the Hollywood films, and how the negative stereotypes went away with time. Reel Injun also makes a point to explain how it impacted not only the films but Americans who watched them, and ultimately America as a
whole. Reel Injun showed the truth behind the Hollywood made Native American, and brought forth a new light into the lives of modern Native American. Exploring the effects of the stereotypes, and explaining why portraying Natives in a negative way in films was an important part of Native American history showed everyone who watched it multiple views of the same revolutionary time in history. Furthermore showing not only the negative stereotypes but also what lead up to the Renaissance is ultimately what makes this documentary revolutionary.
Native American Literature & Film 22 April 2014 Social Injustice in Roundhouse Lives for Native Americans on reservations have never quite been easy. There are many struggles that most outsiders are completely oblivious about. In her book The Roundhouse, Louise Erdrich brings those problems to light. She gives her readers a feel of what it is like to be Native American by illustrating the struggles through the life of Joe, a 13-year-old Native American boy living on a North Dakota reservation.
In The White Man’s Indian, Robert Berkhoffer analyzes how Native Americans have maintained a negative stereotype because of Whites. As a matter of fact, this book examines the evolution of Native Americans throughout American history by explaining the origin of the Indian stereotype, the change from religious justification to scientific racism to a modern anthropological viewpoint of Native Americans, the White portrayal of Native Americans through art, and the policies enacted to keep Native Americans as Whites perceive them to be. In the hope that Native Americans will be able to overcome how Whites have portrayed them, Berkhoffer is presenting
In Thomas King’s novel, The Inconvenient Indian, the story of North America’s history is discussed from his original viewpoint and perspective. In his first chapter, “Forgetting Columbus,” he voices his opinion about how he feel towards the way white people have told America’s history and portraying it as an adventurous tale of triumph, strength and freedom. King hunts down the evidence needed to reveal more facts on the controversial relationship between the whites and natives and how it has affected the culture of Americans. Mainly untangling the confusion between the idea of Native Americans being savages and whites constantly reigning in glory. He exposes the truth about how Native Americans were treated and how their actual stories were
Lliu, K., and H. Zhang. "Self- and Counter-Representations of Native Americans: Stereotypical Images of and New Images by Native Americans in Popular Media." Ebscohost. University of Arkansas, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014
Perpetuation of Native American Stereotypes in Children's Literature Caution should be used when selecting books including Native Americans, due to the lasting images that books and pictures provide to children. This paper will examine the portrayal of Native Americans in children's literature. I will discuss specific stereotypes that are present and should be avoided, as well as positive examples. I will also highlight evaluative criteria that will be useful in selecting appropriate materials for children and provide examples of good and bad books. Children will read many books as they grow up.
Similarly, the popular tv series Parks and Recreation, does the same in the episode “Harvest Festival” by exposing how easy we stereotype certain groups. In both portrayals of Native Americans, they make obvious how easy it is to stereotype and believe a stereotype of a specific group without noticing it or even noticing the other qualities a certain group possesses.
Birth of a Nation was a film that broke several artistic boundaries in the film industry yet was seen as the most racist film of any generation. This has caused it to be a film under heavy debate since its release in 1915. One can never look past the racist depictions that this film portrays in it. However, to truly understand the film and explore its importance in the study of minorities in film, one must look at this film from all perspectives.
As a result, both films represent Natives Americans under the point of view of non-Native directors. Despite the fact that they made use of the fabricated stereotypes in their illustrations of the indigenous people, their portrayal was revolutionary in its own times. Each of the films add in their own way a new approach to the representation of indigenous people, their stories unfold partly unlike. These differences make one look at the indigenous not only as one dimensional beings but as multifaceted beings, as Dunbar say, “they are just like us.” This is finally a sense of fairness and respect by the non-native populations to the Native Indians.
In his novel, Thomas King plays on stereotypes and expectations that occur in our society on the portrayal of Native Americans. He show us the bias image that we have of them by describing what is an indian from a colonizers point of view, how the genre of western movies has an effect on our perception in society. In the novel, Nasty Bumppo, who represents modern society, explains that :
It appears the caricature of Native Americans remains the same as first seen from the first settler’s eyes: savage-like people. Their culture and identity has become marginalized by popular culture. This is most evident in mainstream media. There exists a dearth of Native American presence in the mainstream media. There is a lack of Native American characters in different media mediums.
Western films are the major defining genre of the American film industry, a eulogy to the early days of the expansive American frontier. They are one of the oldest, most enduring and flexible genres and one of the most characteristically American genres in their mythic origins - they focus on the West - in North America. Western films have also been called the horse opera, the oater (quickly-made, short western films which became as common place as oats for horses), or the cowboy picture. The western film genre has portrayed much about America's past, glorifying the past-fading values and aspirations of the mythical by-gone age of the West. Over time, westerns have been re-defined, re-invented and expanded, dismissed, re-discovered, and spoofed. But, most western movies ideas derived from characteristics known to the Native Americans and Mexicans way before the American culture knew about it. What you probably know as a good old western American movie originated from a culture knows as vaqueros (cowboys for Spanish). They are many misrepresentations of cultures and races shown throughout movies from as early as 1920's with silent films. Although one could argue that silent film era was more politically correct then now a day films, the movie industry should not have the right of misrepresenting cultures of Mexicans, Indians and there life styles in films known as western films.
...he environment in which they are set, while still representing the on-going struggle for physical and idealogical control. Both deal with the opposing parties presented in the films, the Na’vi and indians, as they pose as threats to the desired balance in social order. Eventually, these threats are resolved and dealt with in different ways, but nevertheless achieve the goal of restoring balance and tranquility once again to the society. Films like The Searchers and Avatar, continue to address cultural issues and the results of disparity between groups. However, by continually demonstrating that through embracing certain perspectives and principles these differences can be resolved into positive outcomes, these films project the audience’s and filmmakers’ actual desire to conform any outside threats that could endanger the established conventions of everyday life.
These are our intentions when we are producing these films. Our films are to promote Chickasaw culture and history. We are focused on building new ways of cultural learning, new types of artistic expression, and new ways of preserving traditional stories. We have an opportunity and an obligation to prepare our future generations to continue preserve our heritage and history. Chickasaw Nation Productions thrive on working together and building bridges as a means to a greater end. As technology changes, so do people. We make our films to adapt to these changes, and being innovative in our methods of artistic expression and storytelling. It’s how our cultures have always communicated, and our oral stories were passed down generation to generation. Understanding those films can lead to positive representations of Native people and how to integrate them into educating collective masses is a vital step in defining our future. Our films are part of the Chickasaw Nation’s effort to tell the true story of Native Americans from a Native American perspective the social, emotional, and intellectual tools we provide to our
For example, in the local school, stereotypes such as the image of the ‘wild man’ are consolidated by claiming that there was cannibalism among the indigenous people of the northwest coast (Soper-Jones 2009, 20; Robinson 2010, 68f.). Moreover, native people are still considered to be second-class citizens, which is pointed out by Lisamarie’s aunt Trudy, when she has been harassed by some white guys in a car: “[Y]ou’re a mouthy Indian, and everyone thinks we’re born sluts. Those guys would have said you were asking for it and got off scot-free”
In 1775 North America was mostly owned and settled by Native Americans. Native Americans were the first settlers on North America, but slowly, when the Americans no longer needed the help of the Native Americans, they started to view them as savages and outsiders. They then began to weed out the traditionalists and have them assimilate to the American culture. “Thunderheart” is a incredible heartfelt film based on cultural identity, the mistreatment of indians over years of U.S. history, and factual events that took place in the 1970’s on the Oglala Sioux Reservation. The film is a loosely based fictional portrayal of events relating to the Wounded Knee incident in 1973. Followers of the American Indian Movement seized the South Dakota town of Wounded Knee in protest against federal government policy regarding Native Americans. As well as the turmoil within their own people on the American Indian