Representations of Native Americans in Dances with Wolves and The Searchers

For over 80 years, Americans have been entertained by Hollywood productions on the big screen. Movies and films have always been a favorite pass time of the country. As a result of the fact that so many Americans turn to the big screen for fun, there is a lot of influence potential carried with the films or the movies that Hollywood produced. With increased ability to disseminate information comes the responsibility of presenting images that are accurate and factual. The influence and perception that Hollywood created was not always positive. There were multiple groups that were marginalized in film through stereotypes. Native Americans were one of the groups that were negatively

Lieutenant John Dunbar and The Sioux D ances with Wolves is a film adapted from a book of same name written by Michael Blake in 1988 and produced by Kevin Costner in 1990. The film dictates the story of a Union Army lieutenant, who journeyed to the American frontier in search of a military post, and his relationships with a group of Lakota Indians. The movie has adequately addresses some theoretical perspectives, cultural tensions and reconciliations based on some historical facts. Some theoretical perspectives can be seen throughout the entire film, such as the development of assimilation culture. (Assimilation definition)

In the movies The Searchers by John Ford in 1956 and Cowboys and Alien by Jon Favreau in 2011 there is a large variation of how race and gender are represented in the movie. Even though these movies are 50 years apart there is are obvious links and differences in how race and gender are portrayed in these two movies. Race in The Searchers is portrayed by marginalising the Cherokee Indians. In The Searchers the Cherokee Indians are portrayed as “childish savages”, who hunt and kill “innocent” family’s and people and are the antagonists of the movie. However the Westerners are portrayed as the heroes of the

Misrepresentation of Natives on screen throughout the 20th century has had an adverse effect on them. Whether it was positive or negative stereotypes, Natives felt the effect of Hollywood and began to lose their self-identity, their honour, and their pride. Reel Injun takes a look at how movies have defined an entire race and also documents the rebirth of the Native identity after decades of destructive Hollywood movies by interviewing notable Native actors, actresses, and activists. By doing so, director Neil Diamond hopes to silence Hollywood stereotypes and get Hollywood to properly represent the Native people.

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

“Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.-Native American proverb” This is a Native American proverb that shows how important storytelling and stories are to the Native Americans and their culture. Storytelling was a big way of teaching their lifestyle to their younger generation. Storytelling is very important to the Native American culture because it helps explain their way of life, faith, and helps teach life lessons to the younger generation.

Deloria explains that “the naming of an anomaly simultaneously re-creates and empowers the very same categories that it escapes” (Deloria, 5). Within the medium of film, especially Westerns, people might automatically deem Native Americans as types of anomalies if they do not fit certain expectations of what people already think about Native Americans. The character Martin Pawley in John Ford’s film The Searchers could be considered an anomaly without further examination. However, in this case, Martin’s character has the potential to be considered in a more positive

“Dear John Wayne” by Louise Erdrich is about the stereotype of the Native American, being a savage race on film and how the Native Americans watching the film react to those stereotypes.

The Native Americans, at the time of the first encounter, were still very culturally and socially primitive compared to the Europeans. They moved a lot, lived mainly of fishing and hunting, spent their time cultivating and used primitive tools and equipment in their daily activities.

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.

Hollywood has helped create and perpetuate many different stereotypical images of the different races in the world. Those stereotypes still continue to affect the way we think about each other today and many of those stereotypes have been proven to be historically inaccurate. The movie Dances With Wolves, directed by actor Kevin Costner, does an excellent job in attempting to promote a greater acceptance, understanding, and sympathy towards Native American culture, instead of supporting the typical stereotype of Native Americans being nothing but brutal, blood thirsty savages.

Everyone has a preconceived opinion of how a certain ethnic group is in terms of the way they live, the morals they hold, the way they deal with people different from them, and how they deal with one another. We come to these conclusions by what we have seen in the media, heard from other people, or actually experienced ourselves. Most people would consider these opinions to be stereotypes. Dances with Wolves is a motion picture that deals with and touches on all sides of personal stereotypes we as American and American Indians have about each other. John Dunbar takes us through and allows us to see how it is to come into a situation he was not familiar with and then eventually the

The Native American culture is something that is cherished by their people. “Perhaps no other group of people has quite the rich and storied culture as those of the Native Americans. They have a history rich in struggle, strife, and triumph (Native American Culture).” Dances with Wolves, directed by Kevin Costner in 1990, is about a white man who becomes interested in the Native American culture and decides to befriend fellow an Indian tribe (Dances with Wolves). The Searchers by John Ford in 1956 is about a white man who is on a journey to find his niece who was kidnapped by an Indian tribe (The Searchers). These films do have a few differences but many similarities. Dances with Wolves and

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 most famous film Ford made in the 50s, and perhaps during his entire career, was The Searchers (1957). It's the film that inspired movies from Star Wars (1977) to Taxi Driver (1976). John Wayne plays the ex-confederate soldier, and now drifter, Ethan Edwards, a man without a place in the world. The Searchers is a film about family, and why Ethan can only ever hover on the peripheries and never be a part of it. He's the hero and the villain; the saviour and the racist, unstable threat.