Lynch 1 Meaghan Lynch Writing and Thinking Dr.

Bodinger de Uriarte April 19, 2011 Native American: Reading, Writing, Representing

Misleading Assumptions of Native American in History What comes to mind when you think of a red skin, a man riding a horse, and a person wearing feathers, covered in face paint? Many people stuck to their couch watching western films could easily identify these as descriptions of a Native American. One way that people make it easy for themselves to understand a specific culture or group of people is by classifying the Native Americans as one collective group. In a misleading representation of Native Americans, many stereotypes and assumptions arise to show the defeat of the Native Americans in a white mans world. Through popular films and photography, Native Americans are negatively represented and they continue to struggle today for identity and a place to fit into our modern society. Through the use of a camera, Native Americans have been misinterpreted and disrespected throughout photography. This medium holds a great deal of power in what it represents because pictures are unable to be altered, therefore, people trust them to be truthful representations of their subjects. Unfortunately, the Native population does not have a say in their representation because the photo speaks for them. Many photographers have skewed pictures based on their own interpretation that mislead people into believing stereotypes. A highly known photographer by the name of Edward Curtis had a very successful career of portraying tragic Native American figures of the past who had vanished. Although these might not have been his intentions, his pictures allow the viewer to believe that they no longer have to deal with Native American concerns because they are a vanished race of our past. This interpretation makes the viewer, especially young adults who are expected to lead and shape our future, believe that all Native Americans are

Lynch 2 horse riding, feather wearing, savages who were wiped out in their efforts to fight against the superior white race. During the time of Curtiss photography, this general theme became very popular in movies and television shows also displaying Native Americans in a stereotypical fashion. This theme continues into our modern society on how Native Americans are viewed by the public. As Paul Chaat Smith states, The camera, however, was more than another tool we could adapt to our own ends. It helped make us what we are today (Smith: 97). Although Native Americans might not have wanted to be perceived in this clich fashion, the use of the camera it in part was a way of identifying them without their opinion. One man struggled for identity through a split between two worlds. He was a victim silenced by the people who were simply looking for success through their own photography. Ishi, a man known as the last Native American alive, was a subject of unfair treatment by photographers who gave him names such as, the unknown, the wild man, and the hunted animal. Although he was saved from the struggles of starvation and violence, it provided opportunity for the photographers to capture the, last wild instances in the world (Vizenor: 66). In addition, he was completely taken advantage of because his opinion did not matter compared to the face of the power-hungry white man. They forced him to take off his clothes and dress in clich moccasins and fur even though he attempted to resist. In his tribe he was a warrior and a leader but throughout the misrepresentation of the photographs, he was merely a thing, a dead voice. He had a natural smile, but he never learned how to shake hands (Vizenor: 69). The white mans influence on Ishi gave him no opportunity to express himself as something other than a savage. If only Ishi was treated as a human being and listened to among the white men, then maybe Native Americans in general would be associated differently in society. The camera was predominately used in a negative light in the case of most Native

Lynch 3 Americans, however, one Indian named Red Cloud was able to show how the camera could be used to the Native Americans advantage. He used photographs of himself as a means to get his message across to the Euro-Americans. In his pictures, he had civilized and dignified Native Americans in institutional settings portrayed as people who wanted to engage in conversations and negotiations. In addition, his photographs were not simply portraits showing a lifeless person, but instead, a Native American with an object contrary to what a stereotypical Indian would be pictured to hold. In doing this, he created a new representation that could transform American consumers original false perceptions of Native Americans into a more accurate outlook on Oglala society through his photographs. In the past, photographs of Native American subjects were predominantly framed by nonNatives with an interest in maintaining centuries-old stereotypes. Viewing this series through the lens of Oglala society, however, provides a much different perspective. When one considers his portraits in this light, Red Cloud no longer represents the vanishing American or the exotic savage (Goodyear: 11). Furthermore, these pictures somewhat helped the Native population gain a form of respect that was never acquired in previous photographs. Interesting enough, Red Cloud had one portrait of his home taken by a photographer that had an American flag and a picture of Jesus in the frame to show that there can be a connection between two separate cultures. Overall, Red Clouds pictures are powerful enough to speak to us through their depiction. As the old saying goes, Pictures speak louder that words. In comparison with Red Clouds use of photography, Apache leader, Geronimo challenged those who believed that Natives have all disappeared. He presented pictures of himself with a stern face strong enough to speak to the viewer. These pictures provide evidence of a tribe that has not been defeated in U.S and Mexican conflicts. Geronimo is an icon of Native survival through photographs merely presenting his existence. On the other hand, the photographs that display

Lynch 4 Native Americans who have deceased have Native Americans placed on the reservation in the proper attire. Geronimo was not in proper attire, but instead, in the clothes he had on his back. Although the photography of Geronimo was an attempt to change viewers perceptions, these positive attempts might have been covered by other mediums misrepresenting Native Americans. Another misrepresentation of Native Americans through the use of the camera is American movies. A majority of this moneymaking business displays movies that are extremely unrealistic and give false ideas of people in a realistic setting. Therefore, the movies seem so realistic that people perceive Native Americans based on their characters presented in the movies. These distorting images and ideas only create a stereotypical society. The costumes that the Native people wear are all similar and distinctive in movies, making it easy for people to generalize them all together as a negative force against the white man. One of the most highly known filmmakers, Cecil B. Demille displays Native Americans based on his outsider perception of what they should look like. When I say outsider, I am referring to a non-Native who is responsible for identifying a race unfamiliar to his own. In this portrayal, they are not only dressed in feather headdresses and moccasins, but also ultimately grouped together. Since the filmmaker feels that he has reached to an audience how to recognize a Native American through their wardrobe, there is no need for him to qualify it as accurately historical. Although clothing was a large factor in determining Native Americans, it was the not the only way that portrayed Natives as uncivilized savages inferior to the white population. In a majority of films, Native Americans were typecast as the weaker race. This racial connection common among American moviemakers influenced Americans into believing that every white guy is the hero that defeats the savage Indian. These movies are mostly influential on young adults because they have a one-sided perspective. It is very rare finding young adults reading literature as opposed to watching a thrilling western. If you ever see

Lynch 5 a little boy running around as a cowboy and shooting an Indian, you can predict where his idea of this game came about. As a quote in the poem How to Write the Great American Indian Novel states, In the Great American Indian novel, when it is finally written, all the white people will be Indians and all of the Indians will be ghosts (Purdy: 427). While the white person is taking the fame and glory playing the role of the stereotypical Native American in movies, the actual Native Americans is an invisible ghost whose voice is silenced. While some moviemakers and photographers use their power to represent Native Americans in a discriminating way, contemporary American author, Sherman Alexie acknowledges these stereotypes and throws them back in the readers face. In The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, Alexie writes a novel describing two foil characters to show the reader that Native Americans are individuals and should not be grouped as one entity. ThomasBuilds-the-Fire is a character who is strongly in touch with his Native American culture and tells stories to keep his culture alive. His foil character Victor, is a more modern Native American who is lost in his identity with his Native culture. Together they contrast each other to allow the reader to recognize Native Americans as diverse individuals and to go against Hollywoods definition of them. Victor was the stereotypical drunk Indian who had no dreams and lost his culture. Whatever happened to the tribal ties, the sense of community? The only real thing he shared with anybody was a bottle and broken dreams (Alexie: 74). In order for Alexie to falsify this stereotype of the drunk Indian, he had to introduce another character more pure and simple. Thomas-Builds-the-Fire had hopes for his Native community and believed that one day his stories would be heard. Thomas Builds-the-Fire told his stories to all those who would stop and listen. He kept telling them long after people had stopped listening (Alexie: 73). As moviemakers are creating the Native American stereotypes and defining them as a group, Alexie is disproving them

Lynch 6 through his literature and defining them as individuals. In the novel, Nothing But The Truth, many literary critics are knowledgeable of the stereotypes and misinterpretations of Native Americans. Many of their various works help to change peoples one-sided perspective. In a section of the book called, Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective, Silko describes how we must look at the larger picture when reading American Indian texts. I ask you to set aside a number of basic approaches that you have been using and probably will continue to use, and, instead, to approach language from the Pueblo perspective, one that embraces the whole creation and the whole of history and time (Silko: 159). As we look at the larger picture, we can erase all misleading information that we learned about Native Americans and replace it with Silkos Pueblo Indian perspective on the importance of storytelling in relation to the theory of language. She points out that in the Pueblo community there are many languages but the storytelling is what brings the entire community together. We can only begin to understand through an appreciation for the boundless capacity of language that, through storytelling, brings us together, despite great distances between cultures, despite great distances in time (Silko: 165). Many white Americans think of storytelling simply as reading a childrens book at night, but little do they know that it has a much bigger importance. Another contemporary writer by the name of Paula Gunn Allen is a writer who creates a discourse criticizing the authoritative western world. She elaborates on the oral tradition and how a loss of tradition and culture of the Native community will only support the false belief of vanishing Indians and the defeated race.

Traditional lifestyles are more often gynocratic than not, and they are never patriarchal. These features make understanding tribal cultures essential to all responsible activists who seek life-affirming social change that can result in a real decrease in human and planetary destruction in a real increase in quality of life for all inhabitants of planet earth (The Sacred Hoop 2).

Lynch 7 In order for a social change to occur, she believes that authentic oral traditions and the spiritual and epistemology of Native traditions must be acted upon. If we act on this knowledge of culture, many Americans may have a more positive perspective of Native Americans and typical stereotypes that people acquired from a young age may be eliminated. If many Native Americans are wrongly represented through photographs and films, then who has the power to represent a true Native American? In my opinion, the only people who can successfully represent Native Americans are the contemporary writers, photographers, or ethnographers who can identify with the people and their culture. Even some American ethnographers are able to better understand Native Americans through their fieldwork observing them on the reservations and studying the people. Although they are not born with the same values and traditions, spending time on the reservation is an enormous step for Non-Natives to understand Natives better and write accurate and truthful accounts on their way of life. In the novel Thunder Rides a Black Horse, Farrer is involved with the field study of Native Americans on their reservation. It describes an outsiders view on the people living on the reservation and their traditional practices. Through her open eyes of the mythic present, she is able to discuss in her novel the activeness and liveliness that still occurs today on many reservations. This falsifies all the prior beliefs that Indians are a so-called vanishing race. She is also able to teach the importance of being open to other cultures because long-lasting bonds can be formed even when dealing with people who do not share a similar culture, traditions, or beliefs. If we can reach out to the Native Americans population, associating ourselves with them and their culture while creating a friendly bond, then we should have the right to define a Native American. Many of the false representations on Native Americans are based on how they are defined in society. Native American writers recognize these stereotypical beliefs and include them in their

Lynch 8 writing to influence people otherwise. Native writers tell what they see, what they have experienced or are experiencing. They tell what it is like to live as an Indian in todays society, increasingly caught between tradition and mainstream culture (Weaver: 37). Hopefully, in reading Native American literature, society can question their first impressions and step outside their comfort zone to learn more on the Native people and their culture. Although the photographers and filmmakers might be unaware, they created the stereotypes that are associated with Native Americans. They have been stripped of their identity and have lost their voice in their own representation. They helped make us what we are today (Smith: 97). Savages, red skins, and drunks. But are they or is it just societys false interpretation? Clearly society has made too many false claims on defining a Native American.

Lynch 9 Resources Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto fist fight in heaven. New York: Harperperennial, 1994. Print. Weaver, Jace. Native American Literatures and Communitism. New York: Oxford University Press Inc, 1997. Silko, Leslie M. 1989. Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective, In Nothing but the Truth, ed. James Ruppert and John Purdy, 159-165. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentic-Hall, Inc. Goodyear, Frank H. Red Cloud: Photographs of a Lakota Chief. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data: Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska, 2003. Vizenor, Gerald. Ishi Bares His Chest: Tribal Simulations and Survivance. Smith, Paul Chaat. 1992. "Every Picture Tells a Story." In Partial Recall: Photographs of Native North Americans, ed. Lucy B. Lippard, 9599. New York: New Press.