Native American Stereotypes

By Nicholas Barcinski, Djavan Ploetz-Aponte, and Isaac

Youngblood
Question
How have Native American stereotypes in media, pop culture, and
entertainment disallowed the progression and adaptation of their national
perception in the modern era?
Thesis
Native Americans have been frozen in the past in the eyes of our society through
pop culture, and the discriminatory use of Indian mascots for national items, the
media, and their obstructed perspective on Natives, and entertainment, and its
reinforcement of stereotypes given to Natives. Deriving from anti-indigenous
sentiments that were created during the colonization of the United States, these
negative portrayals of Native Americans have maintained and adapted throughout
history despite more cultural awareness and the greater interconnectedness of our
society.
Stereotypical Images Associated with Native Americans
● Tipis
● Headdresses
● Red colored skin
● Poverty
● Conflict with white people
● Casinos
● Incompetent
● Feathers
● Buckskin clothes
● War paint
● Tomahawks
● Riding Horses
● Buffalo hunters
Examples of Stereotyping in pop culture
This is the NFL Team the This is the Florida State
Washington Redskins University mascot of a
logo. It uses images of Seminole. It features
feathers and dark red feathers, war paint, and a
skin. This is found on Native giving out a war
sports paraphernalia, on cry. This logo is placed
TV and sports news on school itemwear,
stories nationwide. shown on TV and
advertisements, as well
as in the news.

This is the Land O’Lakes Butter Company logo found in grocery

stores. It shows a women in buckskin clothing and a colorful
headdress. This image is seen in grocery stores around the
country.
Impact of Pop Culture
● Center for American Progress conducted a study in 2014 showing that mascots
and team names led to poor self esteem and mental health in Native youth
(Qureshi)
● The American Psychological Association declared in 2005 that all Native
mascots and symbols must be retired by all, as they lead to harmful
development for the youth in Native American communities (APA)
● Mascots teach American youth that discrimination towards others is ok (APA)
● Reminds Native youth of how other kids see them as limited (APA)
 Examples of Stereotypes in Media
Political Cartoon titled “Black Hawk
War” by F. Opper was published in
1894. This illustration depicts a
Native American sneaking up on a
white man, dressed in feathers and
wielding a tomahawk, attempting to
scalp the white man. This image This picture shows the
created a fear and hatred for encounter between the
Indians Covington Catholic high school
students and Nathan Phillips, a
native American elder in 2019.
This cartoon titled “You Don’t Look This story gathered massive
Like an Indian” was made in 1995 by national coverage, as
John Branch, a cartoonist for the San controversy surrounded the
Antonio Express-News. This portrayal interaction between the two. It
features all of the images that people was first interpreted as a very
associate with Native Americans, disrespectful smirk by the boy
such as tomahawks, riding horses, and lead to outrage by the
and feathered headdresses. public
Impact of Media
● National Congress of American Indians has opposed the harmful portrayal of
Natives in media
● Little Exposure in News prevents the public from recognizing the struggle that
Native Americans face today
○ Wounded Knee Occupation in 1973 was one of the first times that Indians received national
coverage (Giago)
● Statues and memorials rarely depict Native American achievements and
sacrifices
Examples of Stereotypes in Entertainment
The 1990 movie Dances With Wolves
details the interaction of an American The Disney movie
soldier and a tribe of Lakota Indians. In Pocahontas was made
the film, Native Americans are in 1995 and features
considered the bad guys by the countless Native
Americans and are described as American stereotypes.
thieves, murderers, and savages. It is The Natives are called
often considered one of the most horrible names by the
prominent films featuring Native English settlers, wear
American characters hide garments, wear
war paint and
The movie The Lone Ranger, made in headdresses, and are
2013, depicts the story of a Comanche in close relations with
and a cowboy and their adventures. nature and spirits.
Tonto, the Native American, is
portrayed by American actor Johnny
Depp. His character wears feather
https://youtu.be/2av
headdresses, war paint, buckskin
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clothes and talks in broken english
Impact of Entertainment
● Films featuring Native Americans only show the lowest level of societal
accomplishments (Dan Georgakas’ “They Have Not Spoken”)
● “Celluloid Indians” by Jacquelyn Kilpatrick
○ Negative Portrayals stem from pent up American anger towards Native Americans
● Characters are either bloodthirsty or noble savages; often times played by
white actors
● Native Americans do not have anyone to idolize or positively associate with
○ The percentage of characters in popular films and primetime TV shows who are Native
American ranges from zero to 0.4 percent, according to content analyses (Qureshi)
Effects of Stereotypes
● 40% of Americans believe that Native Americans are no longer alive (Native
Truth)
● US citizens gain an inaccurate depiction of what Native Americans look like
through Pocahontas, who in the movie, is based after non-Aboriginal models
● Natives are alcoholic, excessive gamblers, and fight continuously amongst
each other

Women

● Sexualized in films - shown as loving towards the white protagonist in movies

(Pewewardy)
● Brutalized and helpless - need saving from their problems by white men
(women’s media - representation of native women)
Why has this Occurred?
● History considers Native Americans as others
● Media and news from the 18th and 19th Century uses images of violence to
convince the public that a danger was present
● History takes battles and events out of context
● US government was attempting to assimilate Native Americans
● ¼ of Native Americans live on Reservations (Qureshi)
● Education and schools don’t teach the kids about what being Native American
means today
● Ignorance
What is Already Being Done to Make a Change
● Community scale teams have begun dropping the term “Redskins” for their
mascot name, opting for a more appropriate, less-offensive term (proudtobe)
● US Patent Office has stated that the word “Redskin” is disparaging to Native
Americans, and have declared that the word can no longer be used to receive
taxpayer financed copyright protections (proudtobe)
● American Psychological Association adopted a resolution in 2014 to retire all
mascots, images, symbols, and personalities in schools, colleges, and
professional teams (Qureshi)
● Websites such as www.ReclaimingNativeTruth.com use digital media to spread
the truth about Native American history and eliminate common myths
Product
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIuZxHUhP1g&feature=youtu.be
Audience
We wanted to reach groups of young adults, such as highschool and college
students, because they are soon to be the next generation of leaders and activists
in our society. In order to reach our specified audience, we have shared our video
to popular social media sites such as Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. We also
sent our video to college students at the University of Texas, who spread our video
amongst Stumo, a group that travels the world in order to help those in need, as
well as a college student who attends the University of Texas A&M, who shared our
production throughout the student body.
How You can Help
● Support Native American films and filmmakers
○ Smoke Signals (1998), Powwow Highway (1989)
○ Sandra Osawa, Sydney Freeland
● Raise discussion in classes and places where Native American history is taught
● Pay attention to the Tribal Spokespeople in the government
● Spread awareness to peers
○ Share our video!
Works Cited
Boyd, Julia. “An Examination of Native Americans in Film and Rise of Native Filmmakers.” Elon University.
www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/academics/communications/research/vol6no1/10BoydEJSpring15.pdf. Accessed Feb. 22 2019.

“Ending the Era of Harmful ‘Indian’ Mascots.” National Congress of American Indians. Aug. 2018. www.ncai.org/proudtobe. Accessed
21 Feb. 2019.

Giago, Tim. “Native Journalists: Setting the record straight on media Stereotypes.” Cultural Survival, Dec. 1993,
www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/native-journalists-setting-record-straight-media. Accessed 20
Feb. 2019.

Nagle, Rebecca. “Media Representation of Native women: invisibility, stereotypes, whitewashing.” Women’s Media Center. 12 June
2018.
www.womensmediacenter.com/news-features/media-representation-of-native-women-invisibility-stereotypes-whitewashing.
Accessed 22 Feb. 2019.

Nagle, Rebecca. “Research reveals media role in stereotyping about Native Americans.” Women’s Media Center. 18 July 2018.
www.womensmediacenter.com/news-features/research-reveals-media-role-in-stereotypes-about-native-americans. Accessed 22
Feb. 2019.
Works Cited Cont.
Qureshi, Farah. “Native Americans: Negative impacts of media portrayals, stereotypes.” Journalist Resource, 10 Feb. 2016,
www.journalistsresource.org/studies/society/race-society/native-americans-media-stereotype-redskins/. Accessed 20 Feb. 2019.

“Research reveals America's attitudes about Native people and Native issues.” Cultural Survival, 27 June 2018,
www.culturalsurvival.org/news/research-reveals-americas-attitudes-about-native-people-and-native-issues. Accessed 20 Feb.
2019.

“Stereotypes: Indians of the Midwest”. The Newberry Library,

www.publications.newberry.org/indiansofthemidwest/indian-imagery/stereotypes/. Accessed 23 Feb. 2019.

“Summary of the APA Resolution Recommending Retirement of American Indian Mascots.” American Psychological Association.
www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/indian-mascots. Accessed 23 Feb. 2019.

“The Impact of Stereotyping Young People.” Media Smarts.

www.mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/media-issues/diversity-media/aboriginal-people/impact-stereotyping-young-people.
Accessed 20 Feb. 2019.
Reflection
If we were to change our project, we would hope to get in contact with a Native
American professional. We attempted to email different organization such as Austin
Powwow and the Native American Indigenous Studies director at UT. We were
hoping to hear a first hand response about the loss of Native American culture and
more about Native American life in today’s society. If we were to re-do the project,
we would focus more intently on who we could communicate with and put their
responses more directly into our final film.