Hollywood's Indian The Portrayal of the Native American in Film

About this book

The bloodthirsty savage, whooping and screaming and eager to scalp any white man who dared travel west, has been a staple of film since the earliest days of the medium. More recently, Native Americans have frequently been portrayed as environmentally aware, unburdened by the trappings of modern life, with much to teach whites. In this collection of essays, seventeen scholars explore the changing depictions of Hollywood's Indian and how those representations have reflected larger changes in American society. All the contributors are concerned with Hollywood's portrayal of history, and how America's long record of mistreatment of Native Americans has been manipulated by the film industry. Though their opinions do not represent a united front, they agree that the Hollywood stereotypes that permeate our cultural consciousness bear little resemblance to reality. Offering both in-depth analyses of specific films and overviews of the industry's output, from The Vanishing American (1926) to The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), Hollywood's Indian provides insightful characterizations of the depiction of Native Americans in film. Taken as a whole the volume explores the many ways in which these portrayals have made an impact on our collective cultural life.

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