Dear John Wayne Essay

One of the themes used in the book is of racism towards the Natives. An example used in the book is of Edward Sheriff Curtis who was a photographer of 1900s. Curtis was interested in taking pictures of Native people, but not just any Native person. “Curtis was looking for the literary Indian, the dying Indian, the imaginative construct” (King, 2003; pp. 34). He used many accessories to dress up people up “who did not look as the Indian was supposed to look” (King, 2003; pp.34). He judged people based on his own assumptions without any knowledge of the group and their practices. Curtis reduced the identity of the Native Americans to a single iconic quintessential image of what Native meant to white society. The idea related to the image of this group of people during the 1900s consisted of racism in terms of the “real looking Indian”. This is not

Stagecoach – a movie that is widely accepted as the most damaging movie for the Native identity – helped to illustrate this image to viewers at the time. As a result, many Americans believed Natives were all uncivilized and violent, leading to nationwide stereotyping and prejudice. The Indian was the enemy of America as a result. Stagecoach also shows Natives being hunted like animals, which sends the image of them being non-human and thus they should be treated as such. Stagecoach and movies like it mispresented Natives for decades and caused a loss-of-identity amongst the Native community because Natives were dressed the same throughout various films. It was not until the 1970s and 1980s where Natives were properly represented on

In the movie, Native Americans are often portrayed as spiritual, noble, and free this ideal image of Native Americans captured the world’s imagination at one point. It all began in late 1800s when Native Americans were among the first to shot silent by Thomas. One of the common attraction that made

Native American stereotypes represented and utilized by filmmakers portray Native American peoples in unrealistic and offensive ways. Due to the misconception of Native American formed by Euro-Americans, these stereotypes are perceived as factual evidential history. Native Americans are viewed primarily as monolithic. It is important to identify the mistreatment of Native Americans and their various cultures through incorrect stereotypes as well as to emphasize the reality of Native Americans. A primary example of a film in which the filmmaker relies upon stereotypes of native peoples that emphasizes the power of film to create alternative realities is the film The Lone Ranger. In this specific film, filmmaker Gore Verbinski incorporates stereotypes of native peoples such as the bloodthirsty savage, the noble savage, the ecological Indian, and the vanishing Indian. When evaluating these stereotypes, remembering that these stereotypes have transformed to false reality for a majority of the population is a highlighted key in how these stereotypes effect Native Americans.

Settlers move to innocence to demonstrate the consequences of the “metaphorization” of decolonization used by white settlers. The authors wrote,”

In this depiction, the Native Americans lure the men away from their homes, savagely kill their families, and commit wrong. It is the white men who have to painstakingly hunt down the Indians to reinstate justice, righting the wrongs that have been done. Native Americans are depicted as a demonizing form of "the other," a force to which fear and repression can be the only responses. Costner's work almost inverts this.

The film “The Englishman’s boy” is a screen adaptation of Guy Vanderhaeghe’s book of the same name. Vanderhaeghe also wrote the screenplay for the film. The book was based on the true story of the Cypress Hills massacre in 1873. I will provide a summary of the film’s most important plot points, characters and background information. The movie covers the horrors that were witnessed in Cypress Hills and shows the inhumane way Native Americans have been treated since colonization, in 1873 and through to the 1920s. The movie explains how white men were hearkened as heroes for committing these atrocities which were largely excused because society at that time viewed natives as inhuman and therefore undeserving of human rights. The film was set with a background in both 1873 pioneer plains and 1920s Hollywood. This method was used to show a dualism within the two eras and that negative attitudes towards Native Americans had not been corrected as they should have been but only muffled. I will compare the film and its accuracy to the actual Cypress Hills massacre and determine what dramatics were used to make a point within the direction of the movie. This film and the subsequent essay is relevant to this class because I believe that even though the crimes committed against native Americans are less obviously racist, violent and vulgar today, there is still a derogatory indifference towards them and their cries for equality.

Immigrant #1: No! It’s mine! If you want this part of the land, then, fight me!

The film Dances with Wolves, that was written by Michael Blake and directed by Kevin Costner, helps to shift our perspective of Native Americans from one of stereotypical distaste, to one of support and respect. According to an anonymous critic on www.eFilmcritic.com "This is one of the few westerns that devotes its time to looking at the plight of the American Indians (particularly the Sioux), who were thought by some as even more subhuman than blacks during the 1800's (and even during parts of the 1900's)." It has always been thought that Native Americans of old were savage, non-feeling, unemotional, cold-blooded killers. It is difficult for people to see them as

After several chapters in Dunbar Ortiz and observing the movie “Reel Injun”, it continue to expand my knowledge and give me a better understanding of Native Americans during early colonization of America as well as the impact they played in early Hollywood. It also talks about how different stereotypes began to rise, although not all were true or actually came from Native Americans majority of the stereotypes stuck on to the Native people. As well as the challenges the Cherokee people faced for siding with Great Britain during the Revolutionary War, as they were considered traitors to America because they wanted protection from scalping bonds that were out on Native American men, women, and children. But once America took over independence this

Because my analysis is limited to a single film, the specific discursive elements I observed are not generalizable to all representations of Native American identity in film. However, they do reveal explicit themes present in American culture respecting the relationship between Native American groups and the Anglo-American population beyond the realm of Lilo and Stitch. To better explore these themes, I have transcribed interviews from Native Americans regarding their views of the stereotypes surrounding their cultures. Alongside the examination of HIE in Disney movies, these interviews will allow me to further investigate the implications of nonstandard HIE in film and assist my synthesis of the modern perception of indigenous American culture. Each transcription can be found in

Chester & Wayne is a regional food distribution company. Mr. Chester, CEO, has asked for assistance with preparing cash-flow information for the last three months of this year. The selected accounts from an interim balance sheet dated September 30, have the following balances:

“Film is more than the instrument of a representation; it is also the object of representation. It is not a reflection or a refraction of the ‘real’; instead, it is like a photograph of the mirrored reflection of a painted image.” (Kilpatrick) Although films have found a place in society for about a century, the labels they possess, such as stereotypes which Natives American are recognized for, have their roots from many centuries ago (Kilpatrick). The Searchers, a movie directed by John Ford and starred by John Wayne, tells the story of a veteran of the American Civil War and how after his return home he would go after the maligned Indians who killed his family and kidnapped his younger niece. After struggling for five years to recover

The dire situation of the Native American community is presented strongly thought the story as factors of racism, depression and alcoholism are mentioned. The Native Americans in the stories are fully aware of their situation, they know things are bad, as a powerful quote in the story was,” Whatever happened to the tribal ties, the sense of community? The only real thing he shared with anybody was a bottle and broken dreams” (Sherman 74). The broken dreams part stuck with me about the situation of living in an environment that is plagued with hardships. The struggle between dreams and the reality of alcoholism came down hard, as the broken dreams are what lead this individual to alcoholism. The Native Americans in the stories have a lot going up against them including racism, as that is still part of their lives. There is outright racism like racist people, and police officers mentioned, but there is also less outright racist sentiment. Take for example,” Chicano teacher ran up to us. “Hey,” he said. “What’s that boy been drinking? I know all about these Indian kids. They start drinking real young.” Sharing dark skin doesn’t necessarily make two men brothers”(Alexie 178). I found this quote interesting because I do not believe the Chicano teacher had hateful sentiment, but he was prejudicial and believing the stereotypes of Native Americans. The Chicano teacher made his Native American students feel insecure, and even though they shared the same skin color he still managed to see Native Americans as inferior, he was still having prejudicial sentiments. He did not have empathy, and even if you do not understand Native American struggle, you still need to have compassion for them as

The book is well written and in my opinion is a must read for anyone looking for the true account of how our native people were dehumanized and treated with the same respect as cattle being herded to market.