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My Indian Stereotypes
Term Paper ID:42131
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Essay Subject:
This paper discusses the student's Native American Indian stereotypes and provides an archeology of ...... More...
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Paper Abstract:
This paper discusses the student's Native American Indian stereotypes and provides an "archeology" of where those stereotypes were obtained, largely from TV and movie westerns.
Paper Introduction:
My Indian Stereotypes My Native American Indian stereotypes probably come mainly fromwatching westerns virtually every day as a child and seeing many westernmovies We did study American Indians in school but not in great detail The one lesson on Indians that I remember involved the first Thanksgivingin colonial America where the Indians came in loincloths and headdressesand the Pilgrims came in full Pilgrim dress with black hats and buckledshoes Somewhere along the line I have developed the assumption that Indianshave been unfairly
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I derived a greater understanding ofIndians from this movie. I now assume that Indians are more involved inteamwork and collaboration, whereas whites are more prideful and think interms of being superstars on their own. More likely, the Indians wererepeatedly duped because of their trusting innocence, defeated with littlefight, and taken advantage of continually. I feel that they are far more oppressed and less free thanother more vocal minorities in our nation. Another concept prevalent in westerns is that Indians all speakhalting English-or none at all-and communicate primarily through signlanguage and grunting. It is notsurprising that they have substance abuse issues given their sad life andthe unfairness with which they have been treated. What is needed is a "Monk"-like situation comedy featuring anIndian. One concept that seems to be prevalent in Westerns is that Indians arestupid. One notable examplewas an episode of the 199 s American Movie Channel show Remember WENNentitled "And How!," in which the Indian stereotype is reversed. The Tonto actor, played by the authentic Native American actorRussell Means, is sad and cognizant of the injustices and stereotypes thathis people have been subjected to, and the episode is uncharacteristicallysomber in places for a program that is normally upbeat and hilarious. The portrayal of Indians asprimitives who cannot grasp the English language is probably nothing morethan an inaccurate stereotype. A similar show about Indians might lead Americanthinking closer to the truth about Indians, as well. A similar movie was "Dances with Wolves," starring Kevin Costner.Costner also marries an Indian in the movie, but there is a closer study ofthe Indian culture in the movie, and the Indians are portrayed as beingmore logical than in most westerns. Ifour views of Middle Eastern people can be reversed through situationcomedies like "Monk," similar views about American Indians can be reversedthrough like programs about Indians, but such programs have never beendeveloped. Somewhere along the line, I have developed the assumption that Indianshave been unfairly treated by whites in America. We did study American Indians in school, but not in great detail.The one lesson on Indians that I remember involved the first Thanksgivingin colonial America, where the Indians came in loincloths and headdressesand the Pilgrims came in full Pilgrim dress, with black hats and buckledshoes. I believe that today in our country, there is no more oppressedminority than the American Indian. I also believe that the stereotypes of Indians portrayed in westernsare highly inaccurate. While this may have been true in the initialcommunication attempts with the white man, eventually, Indians learnedEnglish and spoke it as well as everyone else. My Indian Stereotypes My Native American Indian stereotypes probably come mainly fromwatching westerns virtually every day as a child and seeing many westernmovies. The movie "Jeremiah Johnson," starring Robert Redford, is one that Iwatched long ago and was the source of some of my assumptions aboutIndians. It is my impression that they are prone to alcoholism, and Ibelieve I read this during research for a school paper once. This man is scalped and leftto die by the Indians. The Indians that onceroamed our continent freely, living off the land, were relegated toreservations that were little more than concentration camps. In my mind, the Indians were noble people whobargained in good faith, while the colonists were greedy and perfectlywilling to take advantage of the Indians' naiveté. The mere fact that Indians are depicted so differently from therest of us demonstrates that most of what we know about them is probablybogus. Indiansare certainly not stupid; there is a vast difference between stupidity andopen trust. In this movie, Indians were depicted as so light of foot that noone could hear them coming. Thisis at least closer to a realistic appraisal of Middle Easterners than thecurrent thinking that every one of them without exception is aterrorist/murderer. Although they were shown as heartlessmurderers, Jeremiah Johnson married an Indian woman, who was kind andgentle. Learning in school thatIndians must live segregated from other Americans on Indian reservationsand that they did not have the right to vote or own land struck me asprofoundly unfair, given the fact that the entire continent belonged to theIndians before the white man cheated him out of it. I assume that they do not have good healthcare orother benefits and that they are unhappy and beleaguered people. Although Adrian Monk is in some ways a buffoon, he is alsoincisively intelligent, highly successful overall, and very likeable. Thisprogram about a 193 s radio station in Pittsburgh featured a radio show inthis episode called "The Lone Stranger," an obvious send-up of the oldradio and TV show "The Lone Ranger." In a reversal of the original show'sconcept, the actors portraying the Lone Ranger and Tonto come to thestudio, and the Lone Ranger is the drunk one, while Tonto is learned andarticulate. I am notsure where I derived this assumption from, but I still believe it strongly. Although I fault westerns for many of the probably false assumptionsand stereotypes proliferated regarding Indians, I also have to give creditto other television shows for helping to correct them. In the case of the Indians, however, thisundervalued condition has persisted for centuries and has never beenremedied. I find this ridiculous, as the primary difference between one raceand another is nothing more than skin color and bone structure. The Indians' interdependencesignals a healthier culture, in my opinion. The scenes that portray Indiansinviting whites to partake of a peace pipe and certain Indian ceremoniesseem more realistic to me, as I think of Indians as largely a peace-lovingpeople that are not interested in attack unless they are threatened. To me, it is a travesty that theywere denied the right to vote for so long and forced to live onreservations. Although this might be entirely reasonable as ameans of defense against the invasion and overtaking of their land bywhites, I doubt if this is the true story. Although I had seen numerous westerns whereIndians banded together and fought the white man en masse, this was thefirst time I understood that the Indians have a more interdependent culturethan that of the whites. This seeming paradox suggested that Indians would have been kindand gentle had they not been threatened by the white man. Finally, I have an assumption about Indians that they are vastlyundervalued in the American culture and thus undervalue themselves.Similar to the way that blacks and other minorities have been undervaluedin the past, Indians have long been undervalued in terms of their abilitiesand worth as human beings. This-although still obviously fiction-probably more closely approximated thetruth about Indians than all of the westerns of preceding years puttogether. One of my prevalent assumptions about American Indians is that theyare still a greatly oppressed people. I base this assumption on my observationsof other people in our country that have come from foreign countries whereEnglish is not spoken. The Indians were accustomed to dealing with other Indians, whoall shared a common ethic of trust, and they had no reason to suspect thatthe white man did not operate the same way. I remember a historylesson that taught how the Indians traded Long Island for a pouch full ofbeads or necklaces. One of thecharacters was a huckster who continually took advantage of the Indians,and there was a suggestion that this kind of treatment was what caused theIndians to hate the white man so intensely. One reason for this, I believe, is theproliferation of negative Indian stereotypes that have never beenadequately challenged or corrected by the media or the American people. In most of these shows, the Indians' only aim is tomurder the white man. Since beingdeprived of their liberties, Indians have led an unhealthy life on thereservations. I feel that they are kept undersuch tight control that insurrections such as those initiated by blacks arevirtually impossible. The fact that the Indians werewilling to trade Long Island for beads suggests that they felt they weregetting a good deal, which might indicate that the value of the beads inthe Indian culture was much greater than their worth in terms of actualcontent.
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