Stereotypes Of Native Americans

There are many stereotypes about Native Americans which are promoted in today's films. Since the beginnings of the westward settlement people have been saying things about the Native Americans that are not necessarily true. They were depicted as savages and thieves. Like all peoples this is true about some, but not for all. In fact, it was the Native Americans which helped the pilgrims settle in this country in the first place. This never stopped whites from stereotyping the way we have. Early films and TV shows gave Native Americans a bad image. Old western films are a good example of this. In these the cowboys were always the good guys and the Native Americans were the bad guys. More

Stereotypes seem to be very present in our country, especially stereotypes towards African-Americans. For the longest time, like it has been instilled as a fact in my brain, black people have been directly related to the words “ghetto” or “hood”. I don’t remember a time where I actually can remember the words “ghetto” or “hood” without the picture in my mind of an African-American person. I think that this is a big problem in today’s society because it is not true but still seems to be taught. In politics, society, and everyday life, it feels like African-American’s are being slammed for being hoodlums. This is a problem because there are millions of African-American people who do not fit this stereotype, but still get degraded and treated badly because of this age old belief.

Before I joined this class I didn’t know much of anything about Native Americans except the stereotypes that were shown on television whether they were positive or negative like all Native Americans live on a reservation, all Native Americans are drunks, and all Native Americans are spiritual.

Whether it manifests itself in microaggressive images a la the recent Dove and Pepsi commercials that caused a stir on social media causing the brands to apologize for their lack of sensitivity or in crude portrayals of marginalized groups seen in old Disney animations that elicit feelings ranging from shock and anger to nostalgia racism is undoubtedly visible in the media. Although media has seen drastic changes over the years as a result of changes in culture racist stereotypes are unfortunately still present. People of color in America have become all too familiar with negative imagery that only serves to put them in a subordinate and inferior role or in some cases leave them out completely. As of late both young people of color and white

Humans have a natural instinct to try to understand unfamiliar demographics based on information displayed to them via media outlets and other people; this instinct is called stereotyping. Stereotypes are "cognitive structures that contain the perceiver 's knowledge, beliefs, and expectations about human groups" (Green). Stereotypes have been proven to affect young adolescents. Media depicts African Americans in stereotypical ways that negatively affect self-esteem, therefore all media outlets should display African Americans in a more realistic and rational way.

Some of the stereotype of The Native Americans in the film were, Pawnee people being savages and Lakota people being the more calm and family people. I understand why the filmmakers showed both sides of the Native Americans, the good and the bad. Which they also did the same with the white people. The Pawnee people acted like savages in the film, they killed with no remorse and took what they wanted from the white people and Lakota people. The most positive Native American character in the film was Kicking Bird.

Sadly, I have often been on the receiving end of negative stereotyping due to my American Indian ethnicity. For example, there have been instances of overt racism masked in the form of a joke, “oh, you’re American Indian? Do you like to drink and gamble”? As well as implicit bias and ignorance, “All American Indians get money from the government”. Given these examples of completely inaccurate beliefs about our community, I feel a personal duty to be a champion for all Indigenous people and correct these assumptions. Although I have never lived on my tribe’s reservation as I was born and raised in California, it is still my duty to honorably represent the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, as well as all American Indians. Whenever I find myself

For Americans moving west in the 1820 's and 30 's there was a little actual knowledge of what the frontier would be like when they arrived. There was a lot of presumption about the Indians. Many felt, through the stories they heard, that they had sufficient information to know what the Indians would truly be like and how to respond to them. Unfortunately, as is described in books and articles, white settlers stereotyped the Native Americans as savage, heartless beasts.

“A new report suggests aboriginal Canadians frequently face racism and stereotyping when using health care services in urban centers, a situation which can breed a degree of mistrust deep enough for some to avoid seeking professional help when sick.” (Mehta, Tuesday, December 11)

In the film The Searchers, Ethan Edwards returned from the civil war hoping that he would find his home, family and the woman he secretly admired. However, the Comanche Massacre shattered his hopes. This made him swear to himself that he would pursue all his relatives and bring them home. Together with his Indian nephew Martin, he embarked on a long journey in search for his niece, who had been kidnapped by the Indians. In the process of the search, Martin correctly suspects his uncle of intending to kill his niece, as she had been defiled by being assimilated by the Indians (Owens).

First off, the supposed overall countenance of a typical Native American is a major stereotype in the minds of many Americans. This is partly due to the fact that the mass media portrays the Indians as these funny characters we can gather amusement from. On the contrary, Native Americans have a deep and rich culture and history, most of which we undermine as foreign and strange. Additionally, we are not exposed to Native American culture and food like we are exposed to, say, Mexican or Asian culture and food. If we incorporated Native American culture to our overall melting pot of cultures this would aid in dispelling myths and stereotypes as we became more acquainted with the people.

Historical and contemporary stereotypes of Native American Indian women have resulted in erroneous and callous images. Mass media, movies, and printed materials continue to depict Native American Indian women as either a princess or a savage. Native American Indian women are affected by non-humanistic myths and stereotypes that are advertised by the media, popular literature, and movies. The "Pocahontas paradox" represents a dilemma for Native American Indian women. This historical movement has persisted in the glamorization and belittling of Native American Indian women (Peregoy, 1999).

In this new day and age Asians are assimilating way better in America and they are definitely getting more involved with politics showing to be significant campaign donors for starters. Asians have been thriving quite positively due to their previous circumstances. Thus, Asian Americans are seen as a model minority in which their characteristic of hardworking and motivation that display the reasons of their achievements, leading them one step further to assimilation. Moreover, negative stereotypes of Asian American are turned to positive stereotypes, mostly, yet there are potential prejudice and discrimination still faced by this race, today. Especially, there are many ideas conditioned into people's minds about the culture or beliefs of Japanese

In fact, myths and stereotypes always exist among different races. In my opinion, these myths and stereotypes are formed by the culture differences, and our ignorance. People have conceived a lot of negative ideas about American Indians that they are mystical environmentalists or uneducated. Actually, this is a process of awareness. First, through movies, cartoon, people imagine about how the American Indians are. However, the director and producer of those movies just focus on making money through movies, so they build the appearance of the Native American in a unique way to attract audiences. In addition, the movies are belong to Non-Indians, so Non-Indians are always nice, helpful and friendly in stories. In the opposite side, American Indians

Although the story can be compelling, the abundance of stereotypes with Native Americans and other people, makes the story feel retold. Stereotypes are seen everywhere, even today they impact modern society by allowing people to judge others. People judge other people based on stereotypes, they will treat people differently depending on what their stereotype is. Contrary, the book didn’t mean to be stereotypical. Today, people read the book and see that most everything about it is stereotypical, but because the book is so old, it actually set in place some of today’s stereotypes. The Last of the Mohicans portrays four main stereotypes, the good Indian(s)(Native American), the bad Indian(s), the damsel in distress, and the hero. Due to the stereotype