Modern Colonial Discourse Analysis

I’m not the Indian you had in mind; a video that was written and directed by Thomas King challenges the stereotypical image that America has towards Native Americans. King is also the author of a short novel “A seat in the Garden”. This short story also challenges the established perspective that American society has towards the Native Americans. There are various stereotypes and perspectives that a majority of the public has toward a particular group. For example some of the common stereo types that are seen throughout the media are that all Asians are good at math, women are primarily sex objects, All Africans like fried chicken, and all Mexicans are gangsters. These stereo types are not completely true for an entire group, yet they

For many Native Americans, there is an insightful feeling of being disregarded within our American society. While being ignored, Native Americans are expected to comply to the stereotypes and misunderstandings of what we know as Indians. If you were to speak with a person who was “Native American” they would culturally identify themselves as a part of their national tribe such as Apache, or Cherokee. In modern times, Native Americans are only discussed in their pre-1900 existence. Throughout schools nationwide, students learn about Native Americans twice yearly, (one lesson around Columbus Day and another lesson around Thanksgiving). In the essay “All Indians Are Dead?” Sarah Shear states, “Students are graduating from high school without even basic knowledge of contemporary Native challenges

In society today there are many stereotypes, including those surrounding Native Americans. The largest of these stereotypes is caused by the misrepresentation of Native Americans as sports mascots. Today, most Native Americans are depicted as, “Objects, cartoon characters, and savages” (Cummings, 2008). Often in the American

IGRA is viewed differently among the Native and the non-Native people. To many Americans, IGRA is a compromise between the American government and the tribal government because it enables tribes to support themselves, while it meets the Congress’ intention of opening more jobs to control poverty-related crimes. According to a survey by the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) in 2006, as much as 75% of Americans believe that Indians benefit from gaming (“The Economic Impact of Indian Gaming in 2006”). It is approximated that the tribal gaming industry generates $15.9 billion in revenue in 2003 (“National Indian Gaming Association”), and has created over 550,000 jobs (Light and Rand, 85). Even though there is only a small change in the number of crimes as a result of casinos, it is enough to conclude that “crime rates were reduced, but not in an overwhelming way” (Light and Rand, 97). On the contrary, Native Americans believe that it is a “one-sided negotiations” that gives the state and federal government power over tribal authority (Light and Rand, 3).

My argument uses the umbrella term of systematic oppression to allow me to describe the many side effects that violence and misrepresentation has had on Native Americans. It involves suicide rates, alcoholism and how this has pushed Native Americans into the cycle of poverty that is giving rise to more stereotypes. The thesis later focuses on my counter-argument of how Native Americans denounced the two main stereotypes of “The Drunken Indian” and “The Poor Indian” because of their entrepreneurial skills and creativity. These characteristics have allowed them to come out of this intergenerational grief pattern and become more confident in their culture and identity.

Pre and post war veterans have always had stereotypes, just as Native American’s have always been portrayed as one centralized stereotype. Together they have both been individually categorized thanks to cultural beliefs and portrayal. Pop culture has especially had an effect on their stereotypes. Post-war movies and western films have sent a negative idea into children's minds.

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.

About 22 percent of the Indian American population live on reservations. Studies have likened the living conditions on these reservations to those of third world nations (qtd. in “Living Conditions”). This means that Indian Americans living on tribal lands are faced with social, economic, and political problems at a rate that is unusually high for the level of growth and development of their country. There exists a prevalent corruption, a lack of control and accountability in tribal governments. And the Indian American culture is gradually being destroyed even though some people argue that the native culture is and will be preserved on reservations. As long as Indian Americans keep living on reservations, these problems would persist, which

Native Americans are often identified as people who wear headdresses, have long hair, high cheekbones, red skin, ride horses, and kill buffalo. Most people don’t really care about how this affects Natives because they either don’t personally know any or they’re just insensitive towards these people. I find that the most damaging views on Native Americans is the way Hollywood and media has portrayed these people to be. In fact, they aren’t even portrayed as normal, functioning human beings; they are dehumanized and humiliated due to being viewed as alcoholics, addicts, uneducated, and illiterate. White America has put most other races into a box that consists of stereotypes and hurtful assumptions of those people. Being that the United States

How did the Native American people groups who shaped North America for centuries become reduced to stereotypes portrayed in movies and other media? What is the place for advocacy and social justice ministries in these communities? These questions captured my attention during my education at Taylor University. At Taylor, most students are not aware of Native American tribes beyond the media portrayal in westerns or sports logos. As I conducted research for the Butler Undergraduate Research conference and the Emmaus Initiative, a nonprofit tracking religious freedom for Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in the United States, it became evident the blind spot regarding Native American studies and advocacy was a national trend. During my future

Another form of racism placed onto Native Indian people is color-blind racism. This form of racism rationalizes “racial inequality as the outcome of nonracial dynamics” (Robertson 120). Color-blind racism takes the standards created by the dominant discourse and applies them to all ethnic groups, putting them on an even level plain field without recognizing historical or social context of each group. Therefore, according to color blind racism, the effects of casualties and stereotypical of Native Indians such as alcoholism, poverty, etc. is essentially their fault and they should be the ones to start change. However, these the casualties of Native Indian culture was changed by racial oppression implemented by the dominant discourse. Therefore, Native Indians cannot be the ones to change of societal perception when they were not the ones to implement it.

The involvement of Native Americans in American history is an important component of the history of the United States. All too often little is taught about Native Americans in U.S. history classes in different time periods and misconceptions run abound. A common place to see blatantly incorrect depictions of Native Americans are in American films about the West. Often in these films Native Americans are of anonymous tribes or display characteristics of completely different tribes, are thirsty for white blood and scalps, and quickly fall down dead with white cowboys’ weapons. Both The Last of the Mohicans and Dances with Wolves, while maybe not Westerns, are feature length films who depict Native Americans and from different time periods,

It is no secret that many minority groups in America experience challenges that the average American is not subject to, but Native Americans, who live on reservations, experience a unique set of social hardships. Many of these hardships are due to the fact that they live on reservations where resources and esteem are scarce, but in order to preserve cultural identity and sovereignty, many natives believe it is not only their right to live on reservations, but their duty. Likewise, it is a duty of the United States government to provide these people, who have experienced a protracted history of violence and oppression at government’s hands, with the resources they need in order to live fruitful and happy lives. Native Americans are a group of peoples who deserve appreciation and dignity, but also a group who is struggling to survive as a result of the harm our nation has caused them and it is for this reason, we must increase assistance to natives on reservations.

The development of tribal casinos or what is commonly referred to as organized gambling can be credited to Native American reservations. Gaming operations have brought phenomenal success to many native tribes in America, and there has been a new dimension to the existing debate regarding Native American sovereignty in organized gambling. There are over 310 casinos ran by about one-third the nations federally recognized tribes, and generate around $10 billion in revenue which is one-sixth of all revenue generated through legal gaming in the country (Evans, Topoleski, 2002). Many of the tribes are now able to provide for themselves essential services rather than wait for the government. However, most

The forced assimilation and displacement of Native Americans at the hands of 18th and 19th century European colonists created a legacy of historical trauma and social marginalization concerning Native American peoples that is present still today. While such subjection is not as overt in recent decades as it has been in the past, stereotypes associated with the Native American population hold a strong presence in one of American society’s most influential institutions: popular culture.