Effects Of Media On Native American Indians

Stereotypes and Misrepresentation of Native Americans in Film Movies have become an ingrained part of American society. Ever since the first motion picture cameras were made in 1890, the film industry has had a steady growth in overall popularity. Stereotypes have a variety of effects on people and have been around long before movies. Misrepresentation in films has been around for the last 50 years for Native Americans, but the effect has been much more impactful.

Population First, because my research was focused on understanding the portrayal of Native Americans, it was important to get the perspective from Native Americans themselves. The opinions of a sample of Native students were collected as a way to begin answering these questions and to provide a basis for further research. The population for this research was ten native students recruited from the Speel-Ya program and by email invitation at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande. I introduced myself to them at one of the Speel-Ya meetings. To protect their identities, I decided to give them pseudonyms.

Native American portrayal cinema typically portray many stereotypes, such as being one with the Earth, alcoholic and dressed in headdresses. However, not all movies and their portrayal of Native American are the same, for instance the movie The Outlaw Jonesy Wales portrays Native American in a different context. In the movie one of the main character is a Native American chief who is not bound by these common stereotypes. Instead he acts just like any person would act and does not put emphasis on what race he comes from. Although it is still very obvious what race he is, but it is not over the top trying to make the audience believe what race he is by portraying as the Hollywood Indian.

In 1845 Manifest Destiny was a phrase that John O’Sullivan came up with. This phrase was made to describe the mindset that the people had the God-given right to make the nation grow. The right to expand throughout the land. It was the idea that the American culture had superiority over any other culture. It also birthed the idea that the Native Americans were inferior to the people that were exploring the land.

The true horrors of the past are beautifully displayed throughout this incredible movie. The audience is able to see all the pain, despair, love, and heartache that the Natives had to endure, as well as the effect the Native peoples had on the soldiers and Europeans. Magnificently represented in a film that is titled “The Last of the Mohicans,” starring Daniel-Day Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, and Russell Means. Released in 1992, based on a novel written by James Fenimore Cooper which was published in 1826, the movie is a dramatic period piece that takes place during the French and Indian War. Although it is directed by Michael Mann, a white film director from Chicago, it presents the lives of Natives during that era very authentically.

The film, Reel Injun reveals a distortion of the way Hollywood sees Native American life through comedy and the real way Native Americans live which changes according to the current times. Neil Diamond sets out on a journey across America to figure out where the incorrect image of Natives arose from, all signs pointing towards Hollywood. Dozens of films recreate the way Americans believe Natives live as savages and wear costumes and decorated headpieces with feathers, but Hollywood does not show the true spiritual side and the meaning of why they live the way they do as true to their own culture and assimilated to the American culture as well. US history negatively affects Native American live which lead to the image of Natives to be clouded by imagination through film, changed the way Natives viewed themselves and expect to live, and misshaped the view we now have for Natives.

The first people that appeared on American soil about 30,000 years ago came from Siberia through the Bering Strait. They have spread around various parts of North and South America, and by adapting to the unknown conditions, they were able to build their cultures which in consequence led to diversifying into many tribes. The most notable changes in the lives of nomadic tribes that embarked on their lives were the development of agriculture and language. Distinct native American tribes by taking the common language, culture and customs shaped a sense of identity and unity. By the time of the arrival of the first Europeans, it was estimated that there were three hundred different ethnic groups and languages in the Americas.

Sherman Alexie is a Native American poet, novelist, short story writer, essayist, comedian, filmmaker and scriptwriter. He represents the second generation of Native American writers who have become prominent in the 1990s. He is the most recognized, prolific, and critically acclaimed author in modern Native American literature. He has been described by David Moore as "the reigning world heavyweight poetry bout champion in the second generation of Native American literary renaissance begun in the 1960s".1 Alexie was born on October 7, 1966, in the town of Wellpinit on the Spokane Indian Reservation in eastern Washington State. Alexie's father, Sherman Sr., is from the Native American tribe of Coeur d'Alene.

There are very few people that know the importance of history. History is series of past events that involves something or someone. In this case history involves the The Native American Narratives, The Coyote Finishes his work, The Sky Tree, The Blackfeet Genesis, which involves the Huron, Blackfeet, and Nez Perce tribe. There are many similarities and differences between their history which has been passed down orally and in folktales stories such as the characters’ role, the biblical relation, and the animals.

The settlers and the native people of America have contributed a good collection of books which constitute the body of American Literature. Any book written will register the life style of people, their food habits, culture, beliefs, system of education followed, the nature of children and their history. The books written by the writers from the United States of America have registered the expectations, hopes, future predictions along with warnings their fear for degeneration of moralities and the impacts of Industrial revolutions. American Literature was acutely carved by the history of the United Nations of America. In the beginning after a great revolution for more than a century and half America became the United States.

I believe that the three pieces we've read have impacted our view on Native American culture and how Native Americans and their heritage is mistreated by today's society. Some members of our society - including some colleges and runway models/designers - mock Native American history and culture. Some mock the culture on accident while others do so on purpose. Today, Native American culture is viewed as ancient but not well respected, runway designers had to discontinue creating outfits similar to that of native Americans because it was viewed as offensive and disrespecting of native american culture.

One of the most fundamental needs a person must obtain is a sense of identity. In an American Indian context, many factors are relevant when considering their identity. For them, identity can exist in many forms and varies from small traits to powerful ethnic behaviors and practices. However, Native Americans are not merely defined by self-determination but by federal, state, and tribal laws. The dignity of Native Americans’ identity has long been subjected to controversy because of how it is socially and politically constructed.

By the 1400s, Native Americans had developed a wide variety of cultures, or ways of living. Many groups lived in villages. Most were nomadic, moving from place to place as changes in seasons made food available in different areas. Historians call the areas where similar cultures developed cultural regions.