Essay on Stereotypes and Stereotyping of Native Americans

Stereotypes come about from ignorance, stupidity, and insensitivity. Two characters, Joe and Red are so unbelievably racist that they hallucinate a “Big Indian” and try to get rid of him. Therefore, they prove themselves to be racist by believing preconceptions without any other information about the group of minority. Stereotypes are always going to be around, especially if two people like Joe and Red think they can get away with their behaviour. People will be continuing to take a step backwards if the false information about a culture is going to affect their judgement. In the short story, “A Seat In The Garden,” Thomas King attests to the fact that Joe and Red are held hostage by their own prejudices and stereotypes of Indigenous people.

When first read by the reader many different things could be going through their minds, one assumptions could be that the “Indians” that the author is

So one of the main points that I took away is the fact that the Indians are not the savages that the English thought they were. The next main point I see is found within the story of the relationship of Eunice and her

Education —an institution for success, opportunity, and progress — is itself steeped in racism. In Sherman Alexie’s short story “Indian Education” from his book The Longer Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is set in two places, the Spokane Indian Reservation and a farm town nearby the reservation. The story is written in a list of formative events chronologize Victor’s youth by depicting the most potent moment from each year he is in school. Alexie addresses the issue of racism in education by examining examples of injustice and discrimination over twelve years in a boy’s life. Victor faces his initial injustice in first grade when he is bullied by bigger kids, but his understanding of injustice becomes much more complex in grades two through twelve as he experiences discrimination against his American Indian identity. Familial experiences of a Native woman, Alexie’s style and humor, and Victor’s awareness of discrimination from grade one to twelve all reveal the grim reality of growing up and being schooled on an American Indian reservation.

Common stereotypes and generalizations have been present throughout history. Native Americans have always been seen as the outsider, even though they had the land now called North America, way before any settlers did. A popular stereotype in the late 18th and into

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.

Sherman Alexie, a well known Indigenous American author, developed the poem, “How to Write the Great American Novel,” which emphasizes on the stereotypes of Native Americans by white people in literature. When he uses the words such as “always,” “must,” and “should,” Alexie exposes how our writers develop the “ideal” story with unlikely scenarios. His sardonic tone implies that all the following inclusions to create such a novel, is inaccurate (Alexie). And with inaccuracy comes distorted images. Richard King, a Masters degree holder in cultural anthropology and devoted to indigenous issues, wrote the book “ Team Spirits; Native American Mascots Controversy,” where King explains that the media has the power to “miseducate and create false representations,” which he believes roots from stereotypical mascots. These “Native” school mascots encourage war paint and feathers and not in the appropriate cultural way, it's an act of cultural appropriation, and he sheds light onto the idea of how something so “innocent” can result in negativity (King). Even in the Disney movie Pocahontas, Cornel Pewewardy, a Comanche-Kiowa, describes how Hollywood miseducated their viewers by portraying Pocahontas as a princess when Native Americans don’t even have a label as such. Secondly, he explains that the Disney movie

We believe that all men were created equal, and you have not shown us that. We believe that we should be treated with the same respect you treat your friends and kin. We are the same. We were created equal in God's eye. We are exactly like you, spite a few minute differences. We value you, why can your not value us?

Uses of icons, symbols, and illustrations of Native Americans have changed ever since Europeans have made contact with the new world. Between various types of media such as art and eventually theater, film, and other forms of entertainment, depictions of Native Americans in the U.S. have seen an evolution over many centuries. Past the beginning of the 20th century, illustrations of Native Americans have seen an evolution in behavior, becoming more culturally aware and sensitive throughout multiple forms of media, but while some depictions may still harbor offensive and insensitive depictions, there are still some forms of popular culture that have either changed their use of Native American illustrations or have become more aware of their motives.

Means that if the Indians were just checking on them and waiting for the right time to

There Tonto stands, a brave Indian warrior, cloaked in a leather vest and pants, with a face painted white, a dead bird on his head, and two swords by his side. Tonto perfectly portrays the typical Hollywood Indian. In Sherman Alexie’s novel Reservation Blues, the Indians in no way portray the stereotypical Indian. Alexie acknowledges and elucidates this major misconception. He shows the hardships of an Indian band, Coyote Springs, struggling to make a living in the music industry, along with all of their family, friends, and relationship dilemmas.

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.

The word red man is defined by the Webster Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary as an American Indian. This term to describe Native Americans is how Hollywood producers have depicted them for centuries. The producers would cover both white and native actors in deep red paint to make their complexions darker and more dramatic. After the painting process met the producer’s expectations the actors became dressed in native jewelry, headdresses, and warrior paint. These are just some of the unrealistic depictions that movies use to create negative stereotypes of Native

Stereotypes are a widely held conceptions or beliefs about certain groups of people or things. The stereotypes of Native American Indians have never really been consistent. The stereotypes of Native American Indians seem to vary from time to time. I wonder if the variations had anything to do with the influence of what is being presented in the media and photographs. I want to compare the stereotypes from the past to the present time. With our education and knowledge right now, I wonder if the media is more conscious of how they portrayed Native Americans. My main focus will be how Native American Indians are being presented or portrayed in the media.

believied that they were alowed to occupy it by the grace of the "Great Spirit",