Stereotypical and Revised Images of the Native Americans

Western/Colonial Representations of the Native American:

The western definition of the native American: The term "Indian" as a western mistake and a western definition… a western misconception.

The stereotypical image of Native American: 

The Ecological Native American: In this 1971 commercial, the image of the "indian" is exploited for entertainment. It is a studied and an artificial image. A fake indian with a fake tear and a fake costume. this image is manipulating and misleading the minds as far as Indian identity is concerned. By that, it is exterminating the real Indian in the public imagination since in reality there are no such Indians as the one in this commercial. By creating such an imaginative and non-existent image about the Indians, they provide the evidence of their non-existence and by that negating the existence of real Native Americans and stripping them of their identity.  

For more analysis of this commercial read the following article: The Crying Indian  

The Indian Princess: It is an oxymoron. The word princess suggests aristocracy. However, Native American Culture is based on egalitarianism. It is another studied and artificial image also used for a purpose: aristocracy is something America lacks. The indian princess gives them more sense of belonging (they descend from an Indian princess grandmother and not an Indian warrior grandfather). Walt Disney's Pocahontas is a recycling of Naomi Campbell. The song shows how Pocahontas teaches captain John Smith to see "spirit" where he sees "profit". It is a sort of "an adoption ritual". Westerners need this kind of adoption to be legitimate in the land.

The Indian Warrior (the bad Indian): mainly as depicted in western movies.

The Wise Indian / the brave Indian (the good Indian): As a matter of instance, James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans. A novel romanticizing America and romanticizing the West (place of fulfillment of the American Dream)

Avatar (the movie) as a colonial narrative: 

Consider the elements of othering and stereotyping in Avatar.

Deconstructing and Revising western images of the native American: 

What is a Native American?

Healing Processes / Reconstructing Identity:

"The seeds remembered the land they came from."
Corn is more than food. It is history. It is spirit.

re-appropriating identity

Introduction to Native American Literature:

Consider the following article by Silvia Martinez Falquina: From the Monologic Eye to Healing Polyphonies: Dialogic Re/vision in Native American Narratives.