Native Americans in
Film
Ever
since the beginning of film production, there have always been certain
stereotypes for certain groups of people. One main group of people that have
dealt with these stereotypes is the Native Americans. Over the years, there have
been three distinct stages to portraying Native Americans in film and they
continue to be improved upon. There has been significant improvement in these
portrayals, but there are still many things that need to be improved upon.
When
Native Americans first appeared in movies and television, they were many
stereotypes that seemed to come up a lot. The main stereotype of these Indians
was that they were all savages. They
were portrayed as bloodthirsty warriors who would kill the white men for no
reason. In many films, also, they were shown as stoic, unemotional Indians who
speak little to no words. Because of this, the nation perceived these Indians
as one-dimensional creatures who lack the emotions of a normal white man. Many
of these portrayals of stoic Indians can be traced back to the work of Edward
Curtis, whose main theme in his work was stoicism. In the words of Bataille and
Hicks, “Anonymity is a feature of the Indian portrayed in film…many do not have
names or speaking parts.” Even if these Native Americans did receive speaking
parts, they spoke in a broken, uneducated dialect and were not able to complete
thoughts or fully express emotions. They often appeared to be characters or
lesser value compared to the white characters. Many of these stereotypes,
though, only pertained to Native American men. Indian women were seen as almost
the opposite of their men. They were portrayed as beautiful maidens who were
sexually available to the white men. This stereotype can be seen even in Disney
movies like Pocahontas.
During
the late 1980s, there was some major improvement over this first stage of
Indian portrayal. In these films, there were more accurate portrayals of Native
Americans and their culture. These movies also acknowledged the harmony and
humanity these people possessed. Many movies, such as Dances with Wolves and The
Last of the Mohicans gave insight into the lives and cultures of the Native
Americans. Dances with Wolves, in
fact, was the first film to offer a sensitive representation of Indian Culture
and won seven Oscars. Not far behind was The
Last of the Mohicans, which gave a greater understanding of the native
customs. With the exception of Dances
with Wolves, many of these movies were not very successful. As these movies
became more about reality and less about entertainment, the market for Native
American movies greatly declined. Many films went unnoticed, not because they
were not historically accurate, but because they were not as entertaining as
the movies about peaceful groups of white people being attacked by ferocious
Indians.
Recently,
there has been a great increase in the number of Native American producers and
scriptwriters who want to give people a new perspective on Native American
culture. Chris Eyre, the producer of Smoke
Signals, only hired Native Americans to work on his film. Everyone from the
actors and actresses, to the directors and writers were of Native American
descent. These movies finally show the sense of pride the Natives have for
their heritage, but it also shows the pain and shame they feel because of all
the stereotypes. They also want to show the challenges these people face
because of the stereotypes. Many Native Americans struggle, not only to
survive, but to maintain their cultural traditions in a very modern world. Not
only do they face struggles with their culture, many Native American actors
struggle to find work because of their Indian heritage. Tokala Clifford, a
successful actor, weighs in on the limitations he is facing in Hollywood, “It
is difficult to be an actor regardless of who you are. But as far as facing
adversity based on racial bias, I don’t think there is any doubt that actors of
Native American ethnicity have faced an uphill struggle.” Because of the
stereotypes created by early film, Native Americans are constantly judged and
questioned. Casey Camp Horinek, a Native American actress, states “to be strong
and proud of who we were was a joke.”
Many
people do not realize what an impact these stereotypes have made in the real
world. During my research, I have found that these harsh, untruthful
stereotypes have clouded the minds of the viewer and made a great impact on our
cultural lives. When these films first began, the stereotype of Native American
women being sexually available to white men had a real world consequence.
Studies show higher rates of Native American women being sexually assaulted by
non-Native men after these movies were produced. Moving forward, the portrayals
did become more realistic, however, the producers still had to entertain an
audience. Dr. Peter C. Rollins from OK State University states,” Motion
pictures in the US have been made for white audiences, to make money… and to
portray history.” Dr. Rollins shows his belief that portraying history was more
of a side note than anything else. Dr. Kilpatrick from CA State University
agrees with Dr. Rollins and says that they were never looking for an accurate
portrayal, nor were they trying to tell the story of the Native Americans. They
were more interested in the Euro-American story. After researching this topic, I
could not agree more with these two professionals. Even though there has been
significant improvement in the depictions of the Natives in film, the main goal
of the producer is to make money. This is understandable, however, when the
stereotypes are causing real world consequences, the way these people are
portrayed needs to be reevaluated. Even as the film improved, and the number of
stereotypes declined, one main thing that still needs to be fixed is the way
Native Americans are not acknowledged as part of the American culture. Although
the depictions are more accurate now, the Native Americans are shown as a
vanished race.
Each
of these three stages of Native American portrayal is a significant improvement
upon the last; however there is still a long way to go. The way the Native
Americans have dealt with these stereotypes is truly admirable and they should
be considered part of the American culture.
