Philip J. Deloria's Indians In Unexpected Places

1218 Words5 Pages

In Philip J. Deloria’s book, Indians In Unexpected Places readers are provoked with questions. Why is there an Indian on an automobile? Why is she getting a manicure? Why is the young man in football apparel? Indians have been secluded into a stereotype of untamable and wild animals. However, Indians break the barriers of their traditional lives by being in more modern and “white” activities. They partake in “normal” activities to not only change their future, but to make their ancestors proud of their accomplishments. Through a variety of events in the early 1900’s, Deloria expands on what it means to be Native American by retelling their lives of, men grew from their reservation life, into competitive sports, the auto industry transformed how Native Americans traveled, and they also gained relevance in the fight to make themselves known in film, not always as a savage warrior, but also capable of love moving pictures. Marking the anniversary of Wounded Knee, Buffalo Bill Cody wanted the shooting of the film The Indian Wars to be a historical reenactment of the events, by using the battleground for the film. The battle would have included a courageous fight, rather than a one sided massacre …show more content…

Native Americans have been stereotyped for centuries, and will still be, due to how pop culture portrays them. It may seem odd, that one would see an Indian at a salon, or playing football at first, but it is a transaction to the integration into American culture. Indians have for the most part, been treated as second class citizens, and were boosted to become more “white”. They were used by scammers, represented in early moving pictures as savage men and traded around by recruiters. Although these unfortunate detours happened to Native Americans, it paved a path for further development. Their quality of life transformed, as they had easier modes of transportation, many young men grew to be educated and masters of their sports, and changes in how whites viewed them in

Open Document