The Native American Behind the Stereotype in The Pioneers
Throughout the history of American literature, the Native American is rarely presented as a fully developed character; instead, he is degraded to a mere caricature, one deeply rooted in traditional racial prejudices. In his novel, The Pioneers, James Fennimore Cooper became the one of the first American authors to depict an Indian as a leading character; in fact, Cooper's depiction of the infamous Chinkachgook is widely considered to be the original archetypical basis for Native American figures as seen in American literature. However, Cooper's characterization of Chinkachgook, known by a variety of names, including John Mohegan and Indian John, is based solely on the white perspective, and as a result, is a highly unrealistic and historically inaccurate stereotype. Moreover, Cooper clearly romanticizes the character of John Mohegan, presenting him as a noble savage, but in doing so, Cooper both demonizes and sentimentalizes Native Americans as a people.
In order to more fully understand the historical inaccuracy of James Fenimore
Cooper's portrayal of the Native American, one must first examine Cooper's research and study of his subject. Though he was raised on the frontier of New York, Cooper had very little first hand knowledge of the Indians of the this area; in fact, he once wrote to a companion, "I never was among the Indians. All I know of them is from reading, and from hearing my father speak of them (qtd in Risetto)."1 Perhaps to compensate for his lack of personal familiarity with his subject, Cooper conducted extensive research on the Native Americans in New York, most notably Moravian missionary accounts...
... middle of paper ...
... of the fact that Cooper is a man of his times, and therefore, still adhered to the prejudices of the time.
Sources Cited
Alpern, Will. Indians, Sources, Critics. 1985. 1, April 2002. http://www.oneonta.edu/~cooper/articles.html.
Risetto, Adriana. Romancing the Indian. 1, April 2002. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/Indians/main.html
Starna William A. Cooper's Indians: A Critique. 1979. 1, April 2002. http://www.webserver1.oneonto.edu/external/cooper/articles/suny/suny-starna.html
1 Risetto, Adriana. Romancing the Indian. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/Indians/main.html
2 Alpern, Will. Indians, Sources, Critics. http://www.oneonta.edu/~cooper/articles.html.
3 Starna William A. Cooper's Indians: A Critique. http://www.webserver1.oneonto.edu/external/cooper/articles/suny/suny-starna.html
To measure velocity we had to get an orange and let it flow down a
Additionally, In “The Last of the Mohicans”, Cooper discusses stories of founding fathers. An Indian and a white man are discussing the stories of their founding fathers. The white man accuses the Indian of attacking the original inhabitants
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
Connell, Barry O'., Dictionary of Literary Biography, Native American Writers of the United States. Ed. Kenneth M. Roemer. Vol. 175. Detroit. Gale Research Co., 1997.
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
As a group, we believe that popular culture does in fact perpetuates stereotypes. Television is a main source of information of popular culture. Television has forever changed how humans have interacted with another and introduce a world of diversity and knowledge. But with this profit, television has also harbored negative aspects. As a group, we studied how racial stereotypes are portrayed in television. In the history of television, different racial and ethnic groups have been widely underrepresented and television itself has been overwhelming represented by white figures. And when racial groups are presented on TV, the characters are often played in limited roles based on stereotypes. A stereotype isn’t necessarily untrue, but it is an assumption based on an incomplete and complex ideas that are oversimplified into something that isn’t what it meant to be, and it’s usually negative. For example, African Americans are often depicted as violent or involved in some kind of criminal activity. Their characters often portrays a person who is always sassy and angry or that isn’t intelligent and won’t succeed in life and inferior to whites in some manner. Asian characters are
The American institution has raised countless generations with misconceptions and lies regarding various foreign cultures. During the 1950’s the educational system in America was given the responsibility of teaching children the horrors and injustices they would suffer if the "evil" communist took over the world. Schools taught students that communist wanted to take away music, apple pie, baseball, and anything else that Americans cherished. Students learned that it was best to believe in the righteous of America. The preceding discussion has much in common with the treatment that Native Americans have received from picture books in America.
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.
* To look at and investigate the action of the sea and find out how
Stereotypes dictate a certain group in either a good or bad way, however more than not they give others a false interpretation of a group. They focus on one factor a certain group has and emphasize it drastically to the point that any other aspect of that group becomes lost. Media is one of the largest factors to but on blame for the misinterpretation of groups in society. In Ten Little Indians, there are many stereotypes of Native Americans in the short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”. The story as a whole brings about stereotypes of how a Native American in general lives and what activities they partake in. By doing so the author, Alexie Sherman, shows that although stereotypes maybe true in certain situations, that stereotype is only
Considering historical evidence, the notion: Native –Americans was not the first inhabitant of America is a complete false. For centuries, history kept accurate and vivid accounts of the first set of people who domiciled the western hemisphere. Judging by those records, below are the first set of Native-American people who inhabited America before the arrival of another human race; the Iroquois: The Iroquois of Native Americans was one of the tribes that lived in America before other people came. Based on historical evidence, it is believed that the Native Americans came from Asia way back during the Ice Age through a land bridge of the Bering Strait. When the Europeans first set foot in America, there were about 10 million Native Americans
Native Americans have been living on American soil for quite a while now. They were here before the European colonists. They have been here and still continue to be present in the United States. However, the way the media represents Native Americans disallows the truth about Native Americans to be told. Only misinterpretations of Native Americans seem to prosper in the media. 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. When they are represented, they are misrepresented. They are easily one of the most underrepresented cultures and people in American media. Native Americans shouldn’t be confined to a stereotype, should have a greater presence in the media, and shouldn’t be misrepresented when they are presented.
Within a river there are areas known as pools and riffles. The pool is an area of deeper slow moving water, whereas the river is an area of shallow, fast flowing white water. The rocks are also clearly visible at the riffle, but submerged in the pool. A pool is usually found on a meander whereas the riffle is normally seen on the straighter areas of the channel, they tend to be situated very close to one another, forming in sequences. The aim of this investigation is to carry out a field investigation at a pool and riffle and compare the characteristics at these two sites with the objective to state the differences.
American novelist, James Fennimore Cooper, explores the implications of race as a means of establishing a moral code of conduct for relations between the white and Native American populations. The expression of appropriate racial interactions is developed through the representation of characters of both groups by drawing attention to the shared features as well as the prominent dissimilarities between them. This creates a statement that creates clear borders of racial difference; however the text clearly supports characters that align themselves on this boundary, borrowing positive traits from either side without completely crossing over. The representation of the novels protagonists Hawkeye and Uncas written in contrast to the antagonist,
which will be easier to time and we can measure the size of the froth