Berkhoffer, Robert F., The White Man’s Indian, 1978, Random House, Inc., New York, 261, nonfiction. 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 …show more content…
how the Indian stereotype is continually promoted as being accurate depictions. While Berkhoffer’s explanation is broken up by methods of how the Indian stereotype is perpetuated by Whites, it is hard for the reader to understand how everything follows in influencing the other, timewise, because subject matter is scattered all over the place by repeating the same topics instead of going in order of events, certain texts may not be known by many readers ahead of reading this book, and the laws are not explained in depth to aid in how they are used to back up his argument. In the first chapter, Berkhoffer examines the origin of the Indian stereotype.
By introducing how Christopher Columbus coining the term “Indian” influenced the initial perception of Native Americans. Although he paints them as intellectual, generous, and happy people, there is also account of them being cannibalistic, thieves, and intimidating. As a result of this depiction and many more, American Indians are never seen as good enough in comparison to Whites due to not being Christian and civilized. Along with this view, they were seen as “wilder” and “savage” Indians, which is to this assumption that Native Americans do not have guidance (13). Also considered heathens, this idea that converting them to Christianity came about through Alexander Whitaker’s pamphlet. Furthermore, separation of American Indians according to tribes was unheard of and resulted in grouping all the tribes into the same customs and beliefs. In effect, they were described as the opposite of Whites by lacking features necessary to being successful as a Caucasian …show more content…
person. In the second chapter, Berkhoffer discusses the change from religious justification to scientific racism to a modern anthropological viewpoint of Native Americans.
Not only has religion been a leading factor in judging American Indians but has played a role in justifying racial discrimination throughout history. Through Christianity, Native Americans were viewed as having lost their faith, therefore this is why they are uncivilized or savages. Since religion is not enough of an explanation, the idea of environmentalism comes into play with why American Indians were a different color and why they moved like that did. In procession, Carolus Linnaeus created the classification system of four divisions of people, along with “…feral and monstrous people…” (40). Sadly, these terrible names connote that Native American are untamable animals. Due to “monogenetic interpretation,” environmentalism became the best approach to how there can be so many dissimilarities out of one variation as opposed to there being different origins of humans (42). Which leads to progress being a trending subject matter in studying because it helped give a more rational meaning to why there are so many different races of people. As a result, Adam Ferguson explained that Indians are at the basic level of savagery, thus American’s civilization has evolved from savagery to barbarity to civilization. Then Charles Darwin introduced evolution in the nineteenth century. This in turn caused many to use this new
scientific information to further racist assumptions. The outcome of evolution, created a new wave of scientific experiments to determine differences in races, leading to scientific racism. It is important to realize that Caucasians wanted to continue their belief that nonwhite races are inferior to their race because science backed up their hierarchy system. With the preservation of White supremacy being of importance, the conducting of facial measurements, craniology, and other anatomy measurements to determine the rank of inferiority amongst races. Consequently, Native Americans “…were presumed to be the closet to the animal stage…therefore, to be creatures of instinct…” (60). At the same time, Franz Boas came up with cultural anthropology at his Boasian school to study different cultures. For example, they studied each tribe of Native Americans instead of each Native American tribe as a collection of one to represent all American Indians like previous studies. Although this newer concept was introduced, history books still portray Native Americans as the one’s first presented to Americans in the past. In the third chapter, Berkhoffer explains the White portrayal of Native Americans through art. Given that the negative depictions of American Indians have been passed down from generation to generation, it is understandable to see why art illustrates unrealistic images of how their life truly is. Through the French’s view, the “Noble Savage” as intelligent and the “romantic savage” as emotional, American culture learned to adopt these views as realistic (78). Then he goes on to argue how Puritans believed Native Americans were a sign from God that Satan, the American Indians, are presented as a test of their faith. Furthermore, literature portrayed Native Americans as dying before they could reach the same level of civilization as Caucasians did. For this reason, paintings were done to keep the memories of the “Noble Indian” alive. Anglo Americans had American Indians playing either as animalistic or as a fighter of crime to protect Caucasians. Now, Native Americans have changed from the “Noble Indian” to “…the most depraved and degenerate on earth…” (105). By doing this, Whites are justified in depicting them as extinct, ancient, or of having old customs of an unintelligent group of people that contribute nothing to society. Until Native Americans can show how their tribe really acts, the realistic American Indian will always be seen as false advertisement provided by Whites. In the fourth chapter, Berkhoffer goes over the policies enacted to keep Native Americans as Whites perceive them to be. He talks about how Anglo Americans used religion as a way to acculturate Native Americans and believed that by doing this the American Indians owed them land in return. Therefore, the “Expansion with Honor” policy was seen as beneficial to Native Americans through the eyes of Caucasian Americans because they are adopting American traditions by giving up the land they have lived on for years. Furthermore, Americans became obsessed with the idea of “individualism” and this made Native Americans more opposed to American ideals or value because they could not be dependent on or a part of a tribe within America (154-155). In the long run, American Indians would have to come together as one and protest these “Indian” perceptions as being false for there to be peace amongst them and Anglo Americans. In Robert E. Berkhoffer’s The White Man’s Indian, the timeline of subject matter seems to be scattered all over the place by repeating the same topics, certain texts may not be known by many readers ahead of reading this book, and the laws are not explained in depth to aid in how they are used to back up his argument. For example, he keeps revisiting the eighteenth and nineteenth century when explaining the progress of civilization, evolutionism, Puritanism, realism in literature, and Indian policy. Instead of describing the beliefs and practices of each century as a chapter, he presents the information in a manner were the reader has to recall previous information about that era, in order to understand why Caucasian Americans were treating the Native Americans as they were. Another issue with Berkhoffer’s book, is that in the third chapter, some of the literature, such as the Relations, History of New England, and more are talked about to an extent that one should have some type of expert knowledge of the textual information before reading this book. Then certain laws like “…Ulysses S. Grant…‘Peace Policy’…” would be better understood if one had researched the policy ahead of time, otherwise the audience has to decipher through his explanation of what it entails (167). In spite of clearly analyzing the origin, religious and scientific methods, the depictions in art, and the laws carried out to fulfill the ongoing negative stereotype of the White man’s “Indian”, these errors on Berkhoffer’s part creates difficulty for the reader to understand the information better by recognizing how each part connects to the other throughout time. Under these circumstances, this book is better aimed at graduate students that are familiar with the information presented and are aiming at making a career out of being a historian, Native American historian, anthropologist, or any one in the political field. These fields of study have a better chance of comprehending the information, creating change to how Native Americans are viewed and portrayed through different mediums, creating policies to benefit American Indians, and are better at getting information out to the public for educational reformation.
Modern day Native American are widely known as stewards of the environment who fight for conservation and environmental issues. The position of the many Native American as environmentalists and conservationists is justified based on the perception that before European colonists arrived in the Americas, Native Americans had little to no effect on their environment as they lived in harmony with nature. This idea is challenged by Shepard Krech III in his work, The Ecological Indian. In The Ecological Indian, Krech argues that this image of the noble savage was an invented tradition that began in the early 1970’s, and that attempts to humanize Native Americans by attempting to portray them as they really were. Krech’s arguments are criticized by Darren J Ranco who in his response, claims that Krech fails to analyze the current state of Native American affairs, falls into the ‘trap’ of invented tradition, and accuses Krech of diminishing the power and influence of Native Americans in politics. This essay examines both arguments, but ultimately finds Krech to be more convincing as Krech’s
Pages one to sixty- nine in Indian From The Inside: Native American Philosophy and Cultural Renewal by Dennis McPherson and J. Douglas Rabb, provides the beginning of an in-depth analysis of Native American cultural philosophy. It also states the ways in which western perspective has played a role in our understanding of Native American culture and similarities between Western culture and Native American culture. The section of reading can be divided into three lenses. The first section focus is on the theoretical understanding of self in respect to the space around us. The second section provides a historical background into the relationship between Native Americans and British colonial power. The last section focus is on the affiliation of otherworldliness that exist between
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
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
Many colonist viewed the Native Americans as spawn of the devil. In Thomas Morton’s writing he said “if we do not judge amiss of these savages in accounting them witches,… some correspondence they have with the Devil out of all doubt.” (Foner 5) An example of historical content is the Metacom’s War by the year of 1675. The Indians in southern New England didn’t like the new settlers pushing on new religion and harsh treatment. Some of the Indians “converted to Christianity, living in protected ‘praying towns.’” (Jones, Wood, Borstelmann, May, and Ruiz 68) The Indians were ok with the conditions until “a white man shot and wounded a Native American.” (Jones, Wood, Borstelmann, May, and Ruiz 69) Colonist began to even distrust the Indians that were willing to convert to Christianity and moved their “praying towns” to “Deer Island in Boston Harbor” (Jones, Wood, Borstelmann, May, and Ruiz 69) This historical content shows that the colonist didn’t truly trust the Indians even when they were of the same religion, like Morton’s writing said “they have with the Devil out of all doubt” (Foner
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
One of the hardest realities of being a minority is that the majority has a thousand ways to hurt anyone who is part of a minority, and they have but two or three ways to defend themselves. In Sherman Alexie’s short story The Toughest Indian in the World, Roman Gabriel Fury is a member of the Native American minority that makes up less than two percent of the total United States population (1.2 percent to be exact). This inherent disadvantage of being a minority, along with various cultural factors, influences the conflicted character of Roman Gabriel Fury and his attitudes toward the white majority. Through his use of strong language, demanding tone, and vibrant colors, Roman Gabriel Fury is able to reveal his complex feelings about growing up Indian in a predominately white world.
Talking Back to Civilization , edited by Frederick E. Hoxie, is a compilation of excerpts from speeches, articles, and texts written by various American Indian authors and scholars from the 1890s to the 1920s. As a whole, the pieces provide a rough testimony of the American Indian during a period when conflict over land and resources, cultural stereotypes, and national policies caused tensions between Native American Indians and Euro-American reformers. This paper will attempt to sum up the plight of the American Indian during this period in American history.
Author and Indian Activist, Vine Deloria makes compelling statements in chapters one and five of his Indiana Manifesto, “Custer Died for Your Sins.” Although published in 1969 this work lays important historic ground work for understanding the plight of the Indian in the United States. Written during the turbulent civil rights movement, Deloria makes interesting comparisons to the Black struggle for equal rights in the United States. He condemns the contemporary views toward Indians widely help by Whites and argues that Indians are wrongly seen through the historic lens of a pipe smoking, bow and arrow wielding savage. Deloria forcefully views the oppressors and conquerors of the Indian mainly as the United States federal government and Christian missionaries. The author’s overall thesis is that Whites view Indians the way they want to see them which is not based in reality. The resulting behavior of Whites towards Indians shows its affects in the false perception in law and culture.
The stereotype of Native Americans has been concocted by long history. As any stereotype constructed by physical appearance, the early Europeans settlers were no different and utilized this method. Strangers to the New World, they realized the land was not uninhabited. The Native Americans were a strange people that didn't dress like them, didn't speak like them, and didn't believe like them. So they scribed what they observed. They observed a primitive people with an unorthodox religion and way of life. These observations made the transatlantic waves. Not knowingly, the early settlers had transmitted the earliest cases of stereotyped Native Americans to the masses. This perpetuated t...
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”
Many people do not realize that Indian people are around us everyday. They could be our neighbors, our bus driver, or anyone that we see on a daily bases. In Thomas King’s essay “You’re not the Indian I Had in Mind,” and his video “I’m not the Indian You Had in Mind,” he exemplifies the stereotype that many people make about Indians. King mentions in his essay that people always would say to him, “you’re not the Indian I had in mind,” because he did not look like the stereotypical Indian. Through King’s essay and video, I have been educated about this stereotype that I was unaware of. Since I now have an understanding of how unrealistic this stereotype is, I now can educate friends and family members on this issue.
There is an enormous dichotomy in the 1800s between what the White Christians say about equality of mankind and how the laws they create and impose affect that equality, specifically with the American Indian. William Apess was the first Native American to publish an autobiography, where he explained his life as a Native American and discussed the challenges he faced while attempting to conquer the Americans. In his 1833 essay “An Indian’s Looking-Glass for the White Man,” I will explain how William Apess holds up the teachings of the Bible and Christianity against the actions, laws, and behaviors of the controlling white establishment.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie investigates the hid universe of the Indians. Sherman Alexie displays silliness, trouble, and reality through his primary character, Junior, to influence the peruser to comprehend what the Local Americans are persevering. Indian reservations have had a background marked by being jail like homes to the absolute most socially rich and profound individuals on the planet. In present-day society, sad Indians that possess these reservations endure urgent neediness that keeps on commanding. This dim world loaded with destitution and much manhandle has influenced the storyteller of The Completely Genuine Journal of a Section To time Indian, Junior, acknowledge what life he would need
In Ten Little Indians, Sherman Alexie analyzes a complexity of both European American Culture and Native American Culture and tries to make all cultures more than just a stereotype by challenging three types of assumptions: assumptions of generalization where a Native American has pre-conceived notions about white people, assumptions of expression where a sex toy is being used as a medicine stick, and assumptions of identity where the scope of sin in humanity during a time of terror is questioned.