Violence In The Searchers

In today’s society, the Native American culture is found only in reservations and is not well known. Portrayed as

When the colonists came to America, they classified the Native Americans as complete brutal savages. But was that a correct assumption? The Native Americans lived a life that was a complete opposite from the way that the Europeans were accustomed to. The Native Americans believed that the land was shared by everyone and not one person could own it. The Native Americans also had a polytheistic religion which completely went against the beliefs of the colonists. The colonists viewed the Native Americans as savages and barbarians because their ways of living were different.

In addition, in U.S. history Native American has been constantly portrayed differently as time pas by ever since early years of film. The portrayal of Native Americans all started in the silent era where Native Americans not only became a hero, but a Hollywood star.

Current American society is constantly affected by events from the past, but sometimes what society thinks is in the past is not so far behind. The way Native Americans were treated historically continually plays a part in current American society. Due to the racism and stereotypes carried throughout society the Native American cultural circle is constantly under fire.

Racism towards Native American tribes and individuals have been found throughout mainstream media. From nationally broadcasted sports games to popular Hollywood movies, Native Americans people have been stereotyped and/or culturally appropriated. Many examples of these stereotypes are blatant and have been portrayed for in the media for decades.

American Indians are ignored from their cultural values, and were looked upon as lower than the white

Vance (1995) stated, “For nearly 500 years there has been a very oppressive, dishonest and manipulative message being voiced by the dominant white Angelo culture towards Native Americans, This has caused a great distrust, anger and conflicting attitudes for the Native American community” (p.1).

Associated with wearing skins, living in teepees, and riding horses Native Americans are viewed as ‘country’ and lack of knowledge. Shown as dumb and have a lack of formal education, most of them live in poverty invested areas. Because of this, they feel that “one representation is better than no representation.” When a group feels underrepresented their psychological relevance and has a toil on the overall ethnic group and can make a difference in lives. Inaccurate and negative representations of Native Americans can be detrimental to the overall perception to the race in general.

Hollywood has been making movies about many people throughout the begining. One of the most popular types of these movies is old westerns with cowboys and Indigenous people. Hollywood has not always represented an accurate portrayal of Indigenous peoples in the portrayal of all Indigenous Peoples as Plains Peoples, savages, and constantly warring against other tribes.

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.

The Searchers by John Ford shows the relationship between the whites and the Indians. Ethan comes back to his family after the war against the Indians. After the Indians attacked his family Ethan went searching for his niece. The Indians would take white girls and keep them captive and because of the actions towards them it made them insane and depressed. Ethan has live with PTSD because of the traumatic events that occurred. Ethan struggles with PTSD in his everyday life while also trying to manage his anger toward the Indians. John Ford shows that PTSD was a big factor after the war against the Indians.

Until fairly recently the popular culture of American literature and film did not attempt to study the true representations of Indians in North America. Instead they chose to concentrate on the romanticized/savage version of Native people: which is an idealistic view of a Native with long, beautiful flowing hair riding on a horse obsessed with chanting and praying to the savageness of a rowdy, wild Native causing unnecessary mayhem to the white people. This portrayal of Native people in mass media had led to the stereotyping of Natives, which in turn had ricocheted into real life. Not only do non-natives succumb to these ideals, but Natives do as well.

“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

Throughout world history, it is evident that Native Americans have struggled in society ever since the landing of Christopher Columbus in North America. Ever since the film industry began in the 1890s, Native Americans have been depicted in many negative ways by film makers. One particular way film makers degrade Native Americans by making their white characters convert into Indians or “go Native” and eventually they always become better than the original Indians in the film. This notion has been repeated in many films, three significant films were it is evident is in The Searchers, Little Big Man, and Dances with Wolves.

The Europeans quickly agreed on a very simple (and self serving) set of assumptions about the native peoples they encountered in the New World: there were "good Indians" and "bad Indians." The good were simple, free, and innocent; the bad were degraded, brutal, and untrustworthy. All individuals, all tribes, at all times could be understoodand all were inferior in the light of Western, Christian civilization. Children are harmed when they are bombarded with stereotypical images because they internatlize these negative perceptions and will hold the images throughout their lives. When a child sees or meets a Native American, their first impressions are the ones they were shown from the books and pictures they saw.