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Hollywood Indian


The Hollywood Indian is a fictitious , a stereotype and misrepresentation of Native Americans used in movies, especially in the Western genre. The image of the Hollywood Indian reflects neither contemporary nor historical Native American realities; instead, it is based in the views and desires of non-Native producers, screenwriters, directors, and actors. Closely connected to myths and images created about Native Americans and the Wild West, the stereotype has undergone significant changes from the beginning of cinema to the present day.

The Hollywood Indian has his roots in the Western as a literary genre. Ideas such as the vanishing Indian, or the noble and ignoble savage, were made popular by authors such as James Fenimore Cooper. This popular wild west literature revolved around frontiersmen, pioneers, and settlers struggling against nature, lawlessness, and Native Americans. Drawing upon genres such as the captivity narrative, these novels rely on a variety of stereotypes. Although supposedly sympathetic to Native Americans, Cooper simplified and polarized Native characters and experiences. While portraying some of his Native main characters as regal, he also portrayed them as the last of their kind and thus enforced the image of the 'vanishing Indian'. This is one of the most persistent images carried into the 20th century. Literary models promoted the idea of Native Americans being either noble or ignoble, and the negative image legitimized concepts such as manifest destiny and the resulting need to eliminate the "Indian threat" to American civilization.

Wild West Shows spread these stereotypes to even larger audiences. Some individual Natives were made famous by non-Natives, who then promoted the racist idea that one man could stand for all Native Americans. The mainstream image of Natives underwent a major change in the 19th century. While in the centuries before, European depictions of Native Americans had been characterized by a certain nakedness, from mid-century on the naked or partly naked “demi-god or cannibal” was replaced by the mounted, be-feathered, and ‘decently’ dressed warrior. Most characteristics of this latter stereotypical Native American were taken from various tribal groups of the Great Plains as they appeared in the 19th century – such as the war bonnet, the teepee, the pipe, and the riding skills. Apparently, already Buffalo Bill picked the Sioux as his favourite "tribe" due to their riding skills and outer appearance.


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