Framing Native Americans in Mass Media !

Framing Native Americans in Mass Media

Dylan Regan

John Carroll University

Framing Native Americans in Mass Media !2

Abstract

For centuries, Native Americans have endured countless acts of oppression and

misrepresentation. Since the first European settlers that landed in the Americas, Native

Americans have been wrongfully looked down upon as subhuman savages, no better than wild

animals in the eyes of the pilgrims. They saw the natives as either threats meant to be struck

down, or hedonists in need of Christianity. During those early days of Europeans settling into

what would soon be the United States, Native Americans were framed to fit the stories of those

who would attempt to wipe out their culture and nearly their existence. This framing has endured

since then, and is quite possibly the most egregious reason as to why Native Americans suffer so

heavily today.

Cultural Differences

Its difficult to describe Native American culture in such broad strokes as there are

countless tribes and customs that span the entire continent of America. Some of these tribes no

longer exist, and those that do have been heavily americanized to the point where they are nearly

unrecognizable in comparison to what they once were. However, to generalize Native American

culture, in comparison to the culture of early European settlers, one would say that the Native

Americans managed to live a fairly peaceful, naturalistic life. There was infighting between rival

tribes over land, but there was also an immense respect for the land itself. Native Americans

treated nature with a gentle hand, as most tribes viewed nature as gifts from their deities. Native

Americans believed in numerous spiritual beings who blessed them with food, rain, and life.

They saw a connection between life and the land, thus they had such respect for it. There was no
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waste, and there was no need for industrializing. All they needed was what the land provided for

them. In comparison, the European settlers were a monotheistic people who found the Native

Americans to be savage because of the way they dressed and acted. They did not understand

native culture because they found it so unbelievably foreign to what they were used to.

Ironically, despite the fact that many pilgrims were fleeing for America due to religious

persecution, they attempted to convert Native Americans to Christianity. This long process of

indoctrinating Native Americans into our culture is what has lead to the situation were in today.

A situation where native culture has been heavily erased due to our expectations of what it means

to be American. This americanizing of Native American culture is largely due to how they

have been framed in the media, even in the earliest of films.

The Rise of Injustice

The oppression of Native Americans began with those early attempts to spread

Catholicism, but these attempts were eclipsed by the injustices that would follow in the years to

come. Time and time again, Native Americans would be tricked into signing contracts and

making deals with people who would break their promises before the ink was dry on the paper.

Because Native Americans struggled with English, it was common for them to make deals that

would end with them losing their land and being forced to move out of their homes. The

introduction of diseases and firearms lead to countless Native American deaths, further wiping

out once large and powerful tribes. The settlers were technologically advanced in comparison to

the Native Americans, and were thus capable of removing them from their homes in order to

claim their land. All of this was justified by Manifest Destiny, the will of God. European
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settlers found the Native Americans to be either imbeciles or savages, thus they had no claim to

the land they were upon. Settlers saw it as their God given right to claim what they considered to

be theirs despite the fact that the land already belonged to someone. This idea that Native

Americans were subhuman allowed the settlers to justify any actions they committed, because

they created a separation between themselves and the natives. This separation led to atrocities

such as the Trail of Tears, where Native Americans werent even allowed to gather their

belongings before they were forced out of their land. Around 4,000 Cherokee people died while

on the Trail of Tears, which only adds to the unforgivable genocide of Native Americans over the

centuries. To this day, Native Americans are continuously oppressed. They are a minority that

does not have a voice, and part of the reason they do not have a voice is because they are so often

misrepresented in the media.

Consequences of Injustice

The most common misrepresentation of Native Americans in Media is the split

personalities of the Nobel Savage and the Evil Savage. Over the years, Native Americans

have been framed this way in film and television. One of the earliest movies Birth of a Nation

depicts native people as drunk, lazy, and violent. These three stereotypes are stereotypes that

would persist for many years. As Bruce Goebel (2004) puts it, More so than any other group,

American Indians are portrayed in popular culture as a people of the past, and as a result, the

material conditions of the lives of Native peoples today are largely ignored.. Native Americans

have been trapped in a sort of framing limbo. Because there has been little to no change as to

how theyre portrayed in media, their very culture has shifted to fit the stereotype. Not only do

Americans view natives in the frame of their stereotypes, but the natives themselves have
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submitted to these inaccurate portrayals. Images of chiefs with giant headdresses as well as

tobacco products with cartoonish Indians can be seen everywhere on reservations. Native

Americans have been forced to market themselves in such a way that is recognizable to an

American audience, because they have been framed in such a way that their former true self is

almost unrecognizable to modern consumers. To follow this thought, Darla M. Wiese (2006)

states For many people, the portrayals of American Indians in movies, television, halftime

shows, books and cartoons may be the only contact they ever have with the American Indian

culture. This statement further reinforces the thought that, for some, what they see in the media

is all they know of Native Americans. Some have never taken the time to talk to an actual

American Indian, and thus have perpetuated the thought that these people are Savages or

Lazy or Drunks. The same goes for Native Americans too, in the movie Smoke Signals

that we watched in class, one can see how stereotypical perceptions can effect Native Americans

themselves. The character Victor attempts to convince his friend Thomas of what it means to be

an Indian. He tells Thomas that he has to be stoic and intimidating so that white people wont

walk all over them. In this powerful scene, one can see the effects that framing has had on Native

American mindset. They begin to view themselves as the stereotypes they have endured for so

long.

Sadly, even today its difficult to find films and tv shows that represent Native Americans

accurately. In fact, its difficult to find any media that breaks free of the mold thats been used

time and again to portray American Indians. As Rennard Strickland (1997) puts it, Surprisingly,

even with fewer and fewer Western and Indian films being produced, I find that students in my

classes still retain the old movie image. I think this is so because it has no competitive
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contemporary image out there for younger generations to see. Despite this though, one example

that comes to mind in accurately portraying Native Americans is not a tv show or a movie, but a

video game. In 2012 Ubisoft released Assassins Creed III which is a game that featured a

Native American character, Ratonhnhak:ton (or Connor, his American name), as the protagonist.

The game accurately depicted the life of a member of the Mohawk people, with the way they

dressed and even the language they spoke. The game also showed some of the injustices that

were endured by the Native Americans, such as the slaughter of women and children at the hands

of colonists. Despite this step in the right direction though, there is still much ground to be made

in the representation of Native Americans in Media. Unless the chain can be broken, and we can

begin to frame American Indians in a more accurate light, the cycle of oppression will continue

on to effect future generations.

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References

Goebel, B. A. (2004). Reading Native American literature: a teachers guide. Urbana, IL: National

Council of Teachers of English.

Strickland, R. (1997). Coyote Goes to Hollywood. Native Peoples.

Wiese, D. (2006, September 16). Chief is reflection of American Indian education. Retrieved

October 02, 2017, from http://www.qconline.com