Philip J. Deloria's Indians In Unexpected Places

What defines a person? Is one of the most basic anthropological questions within the discipline, with the definitions that people have for other people and categories that we have succumb to. This question is loaded and difficult to answer. Unfortunately, indigenous people experience this categorizing plight more than any other racial group in North America and around the world. Furthermore, it has impacted their wellbeing and stripped them of their outward identity. There has always been a romanticized idea of Native Americans, Americans identify Indians as feather wearing, horse riding, buffalo chasing, and spiritual dancing individuals. The truth about who they really are is lost in fiction and westerns, therefore it comes as no surprise

“I’m native American, but I feel as though I don 't belong in this society. I wish I could go back in time and live with my tribe. There I would fit in”. Racism has heavily impacted native Americans, and because of this, they are harassed because of who they are. To be Native American is to be bothered and feel like an outsider.

The Native Americans have been living in America longer than anyone. The Indians have made a big impact on America. But how? European Immigration, sharing lands, the French and Indian War, the Indian Removal Act, and Manifest Destiny all worked towards getting rid of them. How has the Native American’s culture, history and daily life been affected by European Immigration into the Americas?

Janna Jones’s essay “Starring Sally Peshlakai” follows a path towards a Native American woman who is featured in a 1939 ethnographic film, Navajo Rug Weaving, and discovers a complicated relationship between filmmaker and subject. While examining films for preservation, Jones discovers a world set in Navajo territory created by Tad Nichols. After researching the directors background, the façade of Navajo Rug Weaving unravels to reveal a close bond between the director and the Navajo – something not blatantly portrayed in the film. Early twentieth century documentaries often exploit peoples with “exotic” traits – living in the tundra, surviving in the desert, making rugs – to a point of fundamental entertainment. On the other hand, anthropologists

It is in human nature to make assumptions on a topic without understanding the full meaning. Not all of us are experts in Native American culture, but we have all been brainwashed to believe the same things: That they are uneducated savages who have no purpose. This is just one of many examples that which popular culture shapes the way that we view others. We all want to belong

Native American Indians have been portrayed in the media, movies and stories very negatively. The media, in today’s society barely recognizes Native Americans. It is like they disappeared. They are perceived as people of the past. When they are featured on a news channel, it is usually due to protests subjected around their territory.

As a child we grow up watching movies that portray each culture differently. The Disney movies are a great example. Native Americans fought long enough to only be stereotype. The media portrays Natives as savages. Since recently people have been noticing the stereotypes in these children films. The 1953 classic movie Peter Pan had a scene where big chief is sitting next to “Indians”. The animated characters are red skin, big nose, and a feather in their head. They are also singing a song called “What makes the red man red?”. Children don’t notice these stereotypes. In other movies, Native American are seen as smokers, drinkers, and lazy. These portray harm the way people look at the children. These children grow up being told their

Concerning our perceptions of culture and race of people what are the effects of storytelling? Are there positive or negative effects when stories told repeatedly about one culture? Concerning Native Americans what are the effects of storytelling and they are used to correct misconceptions that we have about Native American culture and history. This essay covers my thoughts and opinions on the impact of storytelling potentially correcting or propagating the misconceptions that I had about Native Americans both growing up in the Pacific Northwest to now. First, this essay will describe my preconceptions of Native Americans threw storytelling growing up. Next, I will cover if and how preconceptions about Native Americans are being corrected

After the Civil War, African Americans had finally gained their freedom following years of being forced into an inhumane slave system that dehumanized their entire race. Even though the 13th Amendment abolished the institution of slavery, that did not change people's views of African Americans; whites still viewed blacks as inferior to them. As the African Americans were starting to finally build lives for themselves without the help of their former masters, whites’ resentment of African Americans grew because of their growth in America both economically and politically. Even as African Americans faced discrimination because of their race, Native Americans also faced discrimination from white society because of their culture. Natives overall were very different than the average Americans, and because of that, white Americans wanted to change their diet, clothing, and overall lives to make them become more “civilized.” Both African and Native Americans faced prejudice through the Mississippi Plan and the Dawes’ Act, respectively, in the second half of the nineteenth century.

American Indians are indigenous to North and South America—they are the people who were here before Columbus and other European explorers came to this land. They live (and lived) in nations, tribes, and bands across both continents. For decades following the arrival of Europeans, American Indians clashed with the newcomers who had ruptured the Indian’s way of living. For centuries to come, Indians were often displaced, became assimilated or even worse, killed.

In “Indians in Unexpected Places” by Philip J. Deloria, Deloria makes a very large point to emphasize many different stereotypes that are still present in our society against Native Americans is made. Deloria exposes the issue that as modern non- “Indians” move into the future, society’s idea of a classic Indian is unwavering. The majority of modern society still imagine Indians to be primitive, border-line barbaric, and savage. Focusing on the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Deloria suggests that as non-Indians streamline modernization of society, Indians are also actively taking part in these improvements on both themselves and all of society. Throughout the points that Deloria is making, he focuses on convincing his audience

Many American children grow up playing games such as “Cowboys and Indians” where the indians are usually the bad guys and the cowboys are the good guys, or the heroes. Where do these children get the idea for these games? They don’t learn them in school or from their parents; they learn them by watching television and movies. Western films are so prevalent in American society, often watched by adults and children alike. Many Western films and Hollywood films in general perpetuate the stereotype that all Native Americans are vicious thieves and murderers and withhold moral personhood, the ability to understand and deal with complex moral problems, from the characters but attribute moral personhood and a sense of heroism on to the white characters.

Within the stories “Superman and Me”, “Every Little Hurricane”, “Indian Education”, and “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”, which are short stories all written by Sherman Alexie, it expresses the lives of boys and men living on Indian reservations. A famous quote by Sherman Alexie states, “Don’t live up to your stereotypes.” This quote is shown through these four different short stories by the representation of the theme; any historic events from history or negative situations should not contradict a person’s current situational state, nor should it change a person’s attitude towards a certain situation. Stereotypes are historical situations, and Sherman Alexie states that a person should not live up to

However, are these so-called western films and shows accurately portraying the events of what occurred in the “wild west?” In truth, Hollywood inaccurately exaggerated and romanticized the factual and fundamental truth about what occurred in the Old West for intended money purposes. Clichés such as cowboys, gunslingers, outlaws, and bonds with the Native Americans all made the cut for the western films and shows rather than what the Old West really consisted of. One man, in particular, William Cody, or most commonly known as Buffalo Bill, created Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Shows to give an insight as to what the western life was like. Though his shows were far from the actual truth of what happened in the west, they drew quite an audience. In an aspect, what can be drawn from theses hackneyed-washed that consisted of western films and shows were all for its intended purpose for earning

Imperialism. It’s a word that the entire world was familiar with when Great Britain was a force to be reckoned with. Snatching up territory to expand its sphere of influence, the unassuming island claimed lands from the bottom tip of Africa to the northern regions of the Americas.India was also caught in its wide cast net, tangled in fishing line, but jumped to turn back to water.