Sunday, September 7, 2008
Research Topic 24:Henry Nash Smith, "Virgin Land:The American West as Symbol and Myth"
book "Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol & Myth"
The Western Films of John Ford
The Western Films of John Ford, J.A. Place, The Citadel Press, Secaucus, New Jersey, 1974
"For our purposes, suffice it to say that the concept of the West embodies conflicting ideals. On the one hand it represents essentially antisocial, individual, and solitary values through which a man can escape the implicitly corrupting influence of society. On the other, the West represents a pure, natural, fertile wilderness in which the wilderness in which the society of man can build a new community based on the cleansing, healing effects of nature." (p. 4)
Indians in Iron Horse, 1924
"The Indians who kill Brandon represent another physical hardship that must be overcome by taming the land. At a later point the men are working and singing when Indians come to attack them. The men stop for a moment, fight off the Indians, then go back to work, still singing. But the Indians who kill Brandon are more than simply another force to be overcome. Their leader is a white man who will later prove to be the villain. He is the only one who takes on a personal identity." (P. 20)
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,
(The Indian agent & his men are corrupt, thus providing at least some sympathy for the plight of the wronged Indians who then rebel. The concept is that older, wiser Indians desire peace but young, "wild" Indians cannot be "controlled")
"Thus the Indians in the film exist in their least complex context-they simply represent savage forces, bringing in an element of danger that remains impersonal throughout the film." (p. 157)
Two Rode Together (1961)
"Ford's own racial attitudes are made clear in the captive boy's insistence that he is an Indian and does not want to be 'rescued'. The boy's feelings question the basic assumption of white superiority. He is not like the women, who feel they have been polluted and cannot return; he wants to remain, and he cannot function in a white society that assumes the people he has known as his own are inferior. The director's feelings are made formally explicit when the boy is put in a cage. Ford cuts between a close-up of the boy, seen without the bars obstructing the view, and his point of view of the white people who, shot through the bars, seem to be imprisoned." (p. 208)
Cheyenne Autumn, 1964
Cheyenne Autumn is often described as Ford's apology to the Indians he presented so one-dimensionally in his previous films. The great nobility of the Cheyenne, the absurdly evil German camp commandant, and the film's outcome, when the U.S. government reverses its decision concerning the Cheyenne, support this idea. But for a variety of reasons, this view is not very useful in an examination of John Ford's work. First, Ford has presented us with numerous noble Indians throughout his films; indeed, in almost every film in which an Indian emerges as a personality, he has as complex and compelling a personality as do the whites. Cochise of Fort Apache is a far more honorable man than Colonel Thursday. Scar of The Searchers is a mirror image of Ethan Edwards, and the intriguing old chief, Pony That Walks, in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is as sensitive and well intentioned as Brittles, though not so capable.
Never are Ford's individual Indians presented as stereotypical savages. But in most of the films, the Indians represent a force that the farmers and settlers must overcome. Indians are presented, not as a hostile people, or even as hostile individuals, but as a mass. Any that emerge from the mass do so just as whites emerge from groups of farmers, townspeople, or settlers. " (p. 230)
"In the very simplest of terms, the innocence the Indians symbolize has become more dear to Ford than the progress that destroys the innocence." (p. 231)
This movie needs to be watched by me
"For our purposes, suffice it to say that the concept of the West embodies conflicting ideals. On the one hand it represents essentially antisocial, individual, and solitary values through which a man can escape the implicitly corrupting influence of society. On the other, the West represents a pure, natural, fertile wilderness in which the wilderness in which the society of man can build a new community based on the cleansing, healing effects of nature." (p. 4)
Indians in Iron Horse, 1924
"The Indians who kill Brandon represent another physical hardship that must be overcome by taming the land. At a later point the men are working and singing when Indians come to attack them. The men stop for a moment, fight off the Indians, then go back to work, still singing. But the Indians who kill Brandon are more than simply another force to be overcome. Their leader is a white man who will later prove to be the villain. He is the only one who takes on a personal identity." (P. 20)
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,
(The Indian agent & his men are corrupt, thus providing at least some sympathy for the plight of the wronged Indians who then rebel. The concept is that older, wiser Indians desire peace but young, "wild" Indians cannot be "controlled")
"Thus the Indians in the film exist in their least complex context-they simply represent savage forces, bringing in an element of danger that remains impersonal throughout the film." (p. 157)
Two Rode Together (1961)
"Ford's own racial attitudes are made clear in the captive boy's insistence that he is an Indian and does not want to be 'rescued'. The boy's feelings question the basic assumption of white superiority. He is not like the women, who feel they have been polluted and cannot return; he wants to remain, and he cannot function in a white society that assumes the people he has known as his own are inferior. The director's feelings are made formally explicit when the boy is put in a cage. Ford cuts between a close-up of the boy, seen without the bars obstructing the view, and his point of view of the white people who, shot through the bars, seem to be imprisoned." (p. 208)
Cheyenne Autumn, 1964
Cheyenne Autumn is often described as Ford's apology to the Indians he presented so one-dimensionally in his previous films. The great nobility of the Cheyenne, the absurdly evil German camp commandant, and the film's outcome, when the U.S. government reverses its decision concerning the Cheyenne, support this idea. But for a variety of reasons, this view is not very useful in an examination of John Ford's work. First, Ford has presented us with numerous noble Indians throughout his films; indeed, in almost every film in which an Indian emerges as a personality, he has as complex and compelling a personality as do the whites. Cochise of Fort Apache is a far more honorable man than Colonel Thursday. Scar of The Searchers is a mirror image of Ethan Edwards, and the intriguing old chief, Pony That Walks, in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is as sensitive and well intentioned as Brittles, though not so capable.
Never are Ford's individual Indians presented as stereotypical savages. But in most of the films, the Indians represent a force that the farmers and settlers must overcome. Indians are presented, not as a hostile people, or even as hostile individuals, but as a mass. Any that emerge from the mass do so just as whites emerge from groups of farmers, townspeople, or settlers. " (p. 230)
"In the very simplest of terms, the innocence the Indians symbolize has become more dear to Ford than the progress that destroys the innocence." (p. 231)
This movie needs to be watched by me
Genocide of the Mind:New Native American Writing
Genocide of the Mind: New Native American Writing, edited by MariJo Moore, Thunders Mouth Press/Nation Books, New York, 2003
From the essay, Home:Urban and Reservation by Barbara Helen Hill
"Clans follow the matrilineal line. In our home communities is you do not have a Clan to go home to, you are not considered and Indian. That presents a problem in itself because here in Canada the government has set up a line with patrilineal descendants. Legally you are an Indian in the eyes of the law if your father is an Indian but not in the traditional way if your mother isn't. We now have a lot of Indians with a card saying they are Indians but with the traditional people denying them anything. They are not considered Indians because they don't have a Clan, thus they are denied traditional information." (p. 26, speaking of Canada)
from the essay Everyone Needs Someone by MariJo Moore
"When I was growing up in the fifties, it wasn't as acceptable to be American Indian as it is now. There was no Dances With Wolves over which non-Indians romanticized. No rebellious young people totally distraught over the Vietnam War, looking for answers to society's ills through spiritual teachings. No one looking to become a medicine healer, shaman, or pipe carrier overnight. And very few who wanted to claim Indianness in order to escape the accusation of the raping of the environment. Indians were looked down on even more so that today. I still carry a bit of the pain of having Indian blood, although I have learned it is not only my pain I am carrying but also Granddaddy's and those who have gone before.
Through my writings and travels, I have met many people who claim Indian ancestry for various reasons. " (p. 42)
she then discusses how numerous people seek to be given "Indian names' as if that will make them Indian. (p. 43)
Chapter 5 Preface "Who We Are. Who We Are Not:Memories, Misconceptions, and Modifications"
"Today, after five centuries of Eurocentrism, most people have no idea which American Indian tribes still exist and which have been totally obliterated. Nor are they sure which traditions belong to what tribes. Over the years the public has been inundated with various presentations of Indian stereotyping thanks to movies and literature depicting Indigenous peoples as spiritual gurus, pagan savages, Indian princesses, or pitiful burdens of society-all this always with a mishmash of tribal cultures and traditions.
Fortunately, over the past decade there has been a rising interest in the accurate depiction of Native cultures and histories, as well as present-day struggles. More and more people (Indian and non) have become interested and respectful of the truths that somehow evaded history books." (P. 229)
From essay "Pyramids, Art, Museums, and Bones:Some Brief Memories" by David Bunn Martine
"During the 1950s, my family appeared on several TV shows. My (p. 258) grandmother described the history being depicted in the then-new movie Apache with Burt Lancaster and Jean Peters. This was a movie about the last days of the 'Geronimo War' and was quite accurate and sympathetic toward the Indian cause for the time. Grandpa and Mother sang Apache songs with Steve Allen, Ernie Kovacs, and Dave Garroway." (p. 259)
from the essay Raising the American Indian Community House by Mifaunway Shunatona Hines
"I gained self-confidence to the extent that one day on reading a New York Times story about black women organizing, I was inspired to call Charlotte Curtis, the Times special sections editor. She created history for us by appointing reporter Judy Klemesrud to do a story complete with head shots, which became the first New York Times story about New York City American Indian women. It was September 18, 1968, and this article was the springboard we needed. The overall story was about our efforts to promote the new 'Indianness' to combat the emerging 'Indian is in' fashion madness. " (p. 284)
"Meantime, the headlines continued, only now the inclusion of New York City Indian presence became almost routine. In 1971 New York Times stories covered the Puyallup fish-ins in Washington, the New York State Senate's bill to return wampum belts to the Iroquois, and similar, ..." (p. 281)
From the essay, Home:Urban and Reservation by Barbara Helen Hill
"Clans follow the matrilineal line. In our home communities is you do not have a Clan to go home to, you are not considered and Indian. That presents a problem in itself because here in Canada the government has set up a line with patrilineal descendants. Legally you are an Indian in the eyes of the law if your father is an Indian but not in the traditional way if your mother isn't. We now have a lot of Indians with a card saying they are Indians but with the traditional people denying them anything. They are not considered Indians because they don't have a Clan, thus they are denied traditional information." (p. 26, speaking of Canada)
from the essay Everyone Needs Someone by MariJo Moore
"When I was growing up in the fifties, it wasn't as acceptable to be American Indian as it is now. There was no Dances With Wolves over which non-Indians romanticized. No rebellious young people totally distraught over the Vietnam War, looking for answers to society's ills through spiritual teachings. No one looking to become a medicine healer, shaman, or pipe carrier overnight. And very few who wanted to claim Indianness in order to escape the accusation of the raping of the environment. Indians were looked down on even more so that today. I still carry a bit of the pain of having Indian blood, although I have learned it is not only my pain I am carrying but also Granddaddy's and those who have gone before.
Through my writings and travels, I have met many people who claim Indian ancestry for various reasons. " (p. 42)
she then discusses how numerous people seek to be given "Indian names' as if that will make them Indian. (p. 43)
Chapter 5 Preface "Who We Are. Who We Are Not:Memories, Misconceptions, and Modifications"
"Today, after five centuries of Eurocentrism, most people have no idea which American Indian tribes still exist and which have been totally obliterated. Nor are they sure which traditions belong to what tribes. Over the years the public has been inundated with various presentations of Indian stereotyping thanks to movies and literature depicting Indigenous peoples as spiritual gurus, pagan savages, Indian princesses, or pitiful burdens of society-all this always with a mishmash of tribal cultures and traditions.
Fortunately, over the past decade there has been a rising interest in the accurate depiction of Native cultures and histories, as well as present-day struggles. More and more people (Indian and non) have become interested and respectful of the truths that somehow evaded history books." (P. 229)
From essay "Pyramids, Art, Museums, and Bones:Some Brief Memories" by David Bunn Martine
"During the 1950s, my family appeared on several TV shows. My (p. 258) grandmother described the history being depicted in the then-new movie Apache with Burt Lancaster and Jean Peters. This was a movie about the last days of the 'Geronimo War' and was quite accurate and sympathetic toward the Indian cause for the time. Grandpa and Mother sang Apache songs with Steve Allen, Ernie Kovacs, and Dave Garroway." (p. 259)
from the essay Raising the American Indian Community House by Mifaunway Shunatona Hines
"I gained self-confidence to the extent that one day on reading a New York Times story about black women organizing, I was inspired to call Charlotte Curtis, the Times special sections editor. She created history for us by appointing reporter Judy Klemesrud to do a story complete with head shots, which became the first New York Times story about New York City American Indian women. It was September 18, 1968, and this article was the springboard we needed. The overall story was about our efforts to promote the new 'Indianness' to combat the emerging 'Indian is in' fashion madness. " (p. 284)
"Meantime, the headlines continued, only now the inclusion of New York City Indian presence became almost routine. In 1971 New York Times stories covered the Puyallup fish-ins in Washington, the New York State Senate's bill to return wampum belts to the Iroquois, and similar, ..." (p. 281)
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Geronimo's atuobiography
Per request...one of the coolest things I have ever seen on the Internet...here is a link to Geronimos' autobiography:http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/B/geronimo/geronixx.htm
Bibliography
Deloria Jr., Vine, Indians of the Pacific Northwest, New York, 1977
synopsis: Northwest Native Americans were largely invisible until battles over fishing rights. At first the public sided with the game wardens until celebrities such as Marlon Brando participated, which raised awareness, and then photos of official abuse were published. This brought a sympathy publicity blitz as well as arousing the oft-cited U.S. sense of fair play. Other notable events were the formation of an aquaculture and the development of visible Indian food brands.
Deloria, Vine Jr., and Lytle, Clifford M., American Indians, American Justice, Austin, 1983
synopsis: This tome dealt with how law grew; when the Feds had jurisdiction and why, same with the states and tribal courts. Raises awareness of what is meant by "Indian Country", "Dependant sovereign nations", and similar concepts that eventually led to legalized tax free businesses on the reservations.
Westridge young Writers Workshop, Kids Explore the Heritage of Western Native Americans, New Mexico, 1995
synopsis: kids research the history and culture of 6 different tribes and write about it. included are standouts from history and tidbits on culture.
Juettner, Bonnie, 100 Native Americans Who Shaped American History, San Mateo, 2003
synopsis: brief, encapsulated one page looks at "important" Native Americans. Quite valuable in that many of them were famous and known as "Indians", thus heightening awareness and respect.
Geronimo, 1998, Tri-Star pictures, Jason Patric, Robert Duvall, Gene Hackman, Wes Studi
synopsis: the guy who played Geronimo is given 4th billing. That says enough.
Deloria Jr., Vine, and Wilkins, David E., Tribes, Treaties, & Constitutional Tribulations, Austin, 1999
synopsis: How each individual clause and amendment interacts with tribes and the status of treaties; argues Treaties are still in effect, are effective, and necessary
synopsis: Northwest Native Americans were largely invisible until battles over fishing rights. At first the public sided with the game wardens until celebrities such as Marlon Brando participated, which raised awareness, and then photos of official abuse were published. This brought a sympathy publicity blitz as well as arousing the oft-cited U.S. sense of fair play. Other notable events were the formation of an aquaculture and the development of visible Indian food brands.
Deloria, Vine Jr., and Lytle, Clifford M., American Indians, American Justice, Austin, 1983
synopsis: This tome dealt with how law grew; when the Feds had jurisdiction and why, same with the states and tribal courts. Raises awareness of what is meant by "Indian Country", "Dependant sovereign nations", and similar concepts that eventually led to legalized tax free businesses on the reservations.
Westridge young Writers Workshop, Kids Explore the Heritage of Western Native Americans, New Mexico, 1995
synopsis: kids research the history and culture of 6 different tribes and write about it. included are standouts from history and tidbits on culture.
Juettner, Bonnie, 100 Native Americans Who Shaped American History, San Mateo, 2003
synopsis: brief, encapsulated one page looks at "important" Native Americans. Quite valuable in that many of them were famous and known as "Indians", thus heightening awareness and respect.
Geronimo, 1998, Tri-Star pictures, Jason Patric, Robert Duvall, Gene Hackman, Wes Studi
synopsis: the guy who played Geronimo is given 4th billing. That says enough.
Deloria Jr., Vine, and Wilkins, David E., Tribes, Treaties, & Constitutional Tribulations, Austin, 1999
synopsis: How each individual clause and amendment interacts with tribes and the status of treaties; argues Treaties are still in effect, are effective, and necessary
Red Power theory
You do not even have to be a serious student of recent Native American affairs to know the name Vine Deloria Jr. His legendary book Custer Died for Your Sins is still virtually required reading for anyone who wants to know the genesis of the Red Power movement.
I personally find the Civil Rights Movements of the mid to late 60s and early 70s fascinating. Not one of them was unique in U.S. history, yet they were vastly more successful. I have a theory it has to do with timing.
Womens rights were a VERY hot topic in the early 20th century...actually, that is a misnomer as it was carryover from the hotness of the tail end of the 19th century. Most people still recognize names like Virginia Woolf and Susan B. Anthony, but naturally they were simply the best known activists.
Black civil rights were a hot topic in the mid to late 1800s one could be led to believe...especially as, while you might debate the single cause of the Civil War, no intelligent, educated person could dispute the fight over slavery was one of the primary causes.
The hippie intellectuals were nothing new either...study the lives of Thoroeu (sic), Walden, etc...New Harmony, the free love movement...again, late 19th century, squeezed in between the black rights and womens rights movements.
Native American rights movements were sporadically important. When Ely Parkman was in power they were a hot topic...in the 30s they were a hot topic...
In other words, the 60s were unique because all of these movements were in effect...at the same time. Additionally, there were some very special leaders. Martin Luther King Jr., Dennis Banks, Russell Means, Clyde Warrior, Malcolm X...names that live on today. Sure, Means has made some curious choices (although the debate over Pocahontas is for another time...Disney is kind of its own world) but what he did cannot be overlooked.
How I got there from talking about Deloria Jr. is beyond me. Another tangent successfully run. Anyhow, I have been familiar with Ella and Phillip Deloria, Vine Deloria Sr. , and Vine Deloria Jr. for quite some time.
Indians of the Pacific Northwest is the first of their books I have actually been privileged to read. Deloria Jr. is an excellent writer. He draws you in, tells his story without becoming boring, mixes the high points with details that might seem rather mundane in another setting, and provides a concise account of white-Indian relations in the northwest.The chapter on the fish-ins and battle over fishing rights deserves its own space but tonight the point is a little different.
Deloria is a Pine Ridge Sioux. The history of the Sioux is a bloody one, both before the Plains Wars and during them. The Sioux were the driving force in Red Cloud's War (one of the few won by the Native Americans, by the way), in the Battle of Greasy Grass (you might know it as Little Big Horn or Custer's Last Stand...a better title would be The Hubris of an Egomaniac that led to the greatest Native American Victory in battle that caused their defeat in the war), were the victims at Wounded Knee...Leonard Peltier was an Oglalla Sioux...
Meanwhile, he writes of the Pacific Northwest Indians where the wars were primarily fought in court over fish. It brings up an interesting point to me. What is more tragic; the mass murder by US Soldiers of Native Americans at Sand Creek, the Washita River (Custer again, by the way), the Apache Reservations, and so forth, by soldiers and militia engaged in (frequently illegal) warfare, albeit more often than not against non-hostile Indians....OR the betrayal of peacable, productive in the white fashion tribes by the very men and government sworn to protect them?
The Nisquallies, Lummis, Yakimas, Chehalis, and so forth were sold out behind the scenes by the BIA. Repeatedly. For nearly a hundred years. Sure, Custer was a murderer, Chivington a heartless, lying, murdering, immoral piece of trash, but they were at least open about their wish to kill or destroy every Indian. I tend to think it is even worse to extend the hand of peace, friendship and protection with one hand while signing away everything of value with the other. As you can tell by the title, this started out to be about one of the greatest scholars of our time, but it ended in a rant about the depravity of powerful people. I think it is time for bed.
I personally find the Civil Rights Movements of the mid to late 60s and early 70s fascinating. Not one of them was unique in U.S. history, yet they were vastly more successful. I have a theory it has to do with timing.
Womens rights were a VERY hot topic in the early 20th century...actually, that is a misnomer as it was carryover from the hotness of the tail end of the 19th century. Most people still recognize names like Virginia Woolf and Susan B. Anthony, but naturally they were simply the best known activists.
Black civil rights were a hot topic in the mid to late 1800s one could be led to believe...especially as, while you might debate the single cause of the Civil War, no intelligent, educated person could dispute the fight over slavery was one of the primary causes.
The hippie intellectuals were nothing new either...study the lives of Thoroeu (sic), Walden, etc...New Harmony, the free love movement...again, late 19th century, squeezed in between the black rights and womens rights movements.
Native American rights movements were sporadically important. When Ely Parkman was in power they were a hot topic...in the 30s they were a hot topic...
In other words, the 60s were unique because all of these movements were in effect...at the same time. Additionally, there were some very special leaders. Martin Luther King Jr., Dennis Banks, Russell Means, Clyde Warrior, Malcolm X...names that live on today. Sure, Means has made some curious choices (although the debate over Pocahontas is for another time...Disney is kind of its own world) but what he did cannot be overlooked.
How I got there from talking about Deloria Jr. is beyond me. Another tangent successfully run. Anyhow, I have been familiar with Ella and Phillip Deloria, Vine Deloria Sr. , and Vine Deloria Jr. for quite some time.
Indians of the Pacific Northwest is the first of their books I have actually been privileged to read. Deloria Jr. is an excellent writer. He draws you in, tells his story without becoming boring, mixes the high points with details that might seem rather mundane in another setting, and provides a concise account of white-Indian relations in the northwest.The chapter on the fish-ins and battle over fishing rights deserves its own space but tonight the point is a little different.
Deloria is a Pine Ridge Sioux. The history of the Sioux is a bloody one, both before the Plains Wars and during them. The Sioux were the driving force in Red Cloud's War (one of the few won by the Native Americans, by the way), in the Battle of Greasy Grass (you might know it as Little Big Horn or Custer's Last Stand...a better title would be The Hubris of an Egomaniac that led to the greatest Native American Victory in battle that caused their defeat in the war), were the victims at Wounded Knee...Leonard Peltier was an Oglalla Sioux...
Meanwhile, he writes of the Pacific Northwest Indians where the wars were primarily fought in court over fish. It brings up an interesting point to me. What is more tragic; the mass murder by US Soldiers of Native Americans at Sand Creek, the Washita River (Custer again, by the way), the Apache Reservations, and so forth, by soldiers and militia engaged in (frequently illegal) warfare, albeit more often than not against non-hostile Indians....OR the betrayal of peacable, productive in the white fashion tribes by the very men and government sworn to protect them?
The Nisquallies, Lummis, Yakimas, Chehalis, and so forth were sold out behind the scenes by the BIA. Repeatedly. For nearly a hundred years. Sure, Custer was a murderer, Chivington a heartless, lying, murdering, immoral piece of trash, but they were at least open about their wish to kill or destroy every Indian. I tend to think it is even worse to extend the hand of peace, friendship and protection with one hand while signing away everything of value with the other. As you can tell by the title, this started out to be about one of the greatest scholars of our time, but it ended in a rant about the depravity of powerful people. I think it is time for bed.
Bibliography as of 7/19/05
Johnson, Michael P, Reading the American Past; Selected Historical Documents, Volume II: From 1865, Boston, 2002
Ambrose, Stephen E, Crazy Horse and Custer, New York, 1975
Silko, Leslie Marmon, Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit, New York, 1996
Nies, Judith, Native American History: A Chronology of a Culture's Vast Achievements and Their Links to World Events, New York, 1996
Avery, Susan and Skinner, Linda, Extraordinary American Indians, Chicago, 1992
Dando-Collins, Stephen, Standing Bear is a Person: The True Story of a Native American's Quest for Justice, Cambridge, MA, 2004
Smith, Paul Chaat and Warrior, Robert Allen, Like a Hurricane: The Indian Movement from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee, New York, 1996
Brown, Dee, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, New York, 1976
Edited by Peter Nabokov, Native American Testimony; A Chronicle of Indian-White Relations from Prophecy to the Present, 1492 - 1992, New York, 1992
Robinson III, Charles M., The Men Who Wear the Star; The Story of the Texas Rangers, New York, 2001
Steiner, Stan, The New Indians, New York, 1968
Ken Burns' Documentary, "The West"2001
"Black Indians; An American Story", narrated by James Earl Jones and edited by Stephen Heape
Chuck Connors in Branded, the first season
The Lone Ranger, selected television episodes
Wagon Train, selected television episodes
Buffalo Bill Jr., selected television episodesJudge Roy Bean, selected television episodes
The Rifleman, selected television episodes
Abbott & Costello, Ride em, Cowboy, (1942)
How the West Was Won, (1962), based on the Louis L'Amour book of the same name
Hombre, Paul Newman, 1967
Desert Patrol, (1932), Bob Steele
The Searchers, 1956, John Wayne
Son of Paleface, 1952, Bob Hope
Ella Mae, from the Radio Series :Have Gun, Will Travel
Ambrose, Stephen E, Crazy Horse and Custer, New York, 1975
Silko, Leslie Marmon, Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit, New York, 1996
Nies, Judith, Native American History: A Chronology of a Culture's Vast Achievements and Their Links to World Events, New York, 1996
Avery, Susan and Skinner, Linda, Extraordinary American Indians, Chicago, 1992
Dando-Collins, Stephen, Standing Bear is a Person: The True Story of a Native American's Quest for Justice, Cambridge, MA, 2004
Smith, Paul Chaat and Warrior, Robert Allen, Like a Hurricane: The Indian Movement from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee, New York, 1996
Brown, Dee, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, New York, 1976
Edited by Peter Nabokov, Native American Testimony; A Chronicle of Indian-White Relations from Prophecy to the Present, 1492 - 1992, New York, 1992
Robinson III, Charles M., The Men Who Wear the Star; The Story of the Texas Rangers, New York, 2001
Steiner, Stan, The New Indians, New York, 1968
Ken Burns' Documentary, "The West"2001
"Black Indians; An American Story", narrated by James Earl Jones and edited by Stephen Heape
Chuck Connors in Branded, the first season
The Lone Ranger, selected television episodes
Wagon Train, selected television episodes
Buffalo Bill Jr., selected television episodesJudge Roy Bean, selected television episodes
The Rifleman, selected television episodes
Abbott & Costello, Ride em, Cowboy, (1942)
How the West Was Won, (1962), based on the Louis L'Amour book of the same name
Hombre, Paul Newman, 1967
Desert Patrol, (1932), Bob Steele
The Searchers, 1956, John Wayne
Son of Paleface, 1952, Bob Hope
Ella Mae, from the Radio Series :Have Gun, Will Travel
Standing Bear is a Person
This hand is not the color of yours. But if I pierce it, I shall feel pain. If you pierce your hand, you also feel pain. The blood that will flow from mine will be of the same color as yours. I am a man. God made us both.
I seem to stand on the bank of a river. My wife and little girl are beside me. In front, the water is wide and impassable, and behind it there are perpendicular cliffs. No man of my race ever stood there before. There is no tradition to guide me. A flood has begun to rise around us. I look despairingly at the great cliffs. I see a steep, stony way leading upward. I grasp the hand of my child. My wife follows. I lead the way up the sharp rocks, while the waters still rise behind us.
Finally, I see a rift in the rocks, I feel the prairie breeze strike my cheek.I turn to my wife and child with a shout that we are saved! We will return to the Swift Running Water that pours down between the green islands. There are the graves of my fathers. There again we will pitch our tipis and build our fires.
But a man bars the passage! He is a thousand times more powerful than I. Behind him, I see soldiers as numerous as leaves on the trees. They will obey that man's orders. I too must obey his orders. If he says that I cannot pass, I cannot. The long struggle will have been in vain. My wife and child and I must return, and sink beneath the flood. We are weak, and faint, and sick. I cannot fight.
He paused, bowing his head....Standing Bear looked (judge) Elmer S. Dundy in the eye, then declared in a low, intense voice, "You are that man."
Dando-Collins, Stephen, Standing Bear is a Person:The true story of a Native American's Quest for Justice, Cambridge, Ma, 2004, p.128-129 excerpted.
The speech was made in a dramatic setting. Standing Bear was a Ponca chief. His people had become farmers, and rather prosperous ones. Governmental clerical errors coupled with stupidity to cause the Poncas to be "removed" from their homelands to Oklahoma where, at the time of this trial, 158 of them had already died in but a short time.
Standing Bear had seen his son die. His son had made him promise to take his bones back to be buried with his ancestors. Standing Bear and roughly 25 members of his tribe illegally left their "home", a band of wind-torn tents so unlike the comfortable log cabins of their homelands. His goal was to bury his sons bones and, perchance, return to the land the Poncas had never agreed to leave. They were forced to leave despite a clause in their treaty they could only be moved with written consent of their tribe...consent that was NEVER given.
General Crook, of whom I have much to say, both good and bad, conspired with a journalist, a couple of lawyers, and a judge to try a new kind of case...a case that Indians were human beings with rights, not merely wards of a state so corrupt the man responsible for their welfare was a member of the "Indian Ring", a group of people profiting by short-changing treaty-promised supplies, ignoring death and devastation in the name of a dollar. Well, lots of dollars.
Native Americans had no rights before the courts. They had less rights than even slaves prior to the Civil War and their lot got worse after it.Standing Bear was not only non-violent...twice he saved the lives of soldiers, keeping them from starving and freezing to death. The Poncas, forcibly and illegally removed from their home, even as they were on the journey that would kill so many so soon, saved numerous of their soldier escorts (read "guards") when the soldiers were swept off their horses and were drowning while fording a river. The fearless Poncas immediately dived in and saved them.
Their day in court arrived and Standing Bear made his eloquent plea. Oh, how I wish I had his power for speaking to the heart. Not one person who knew the story of the chiefs forced to walk hundreds of miles by the filth that was their agent, sworn to help them, not one person who knew of the putrid, horrifying conditions that were killing Native Americans by the hundreds every year in the "Indian Territory" (best translated "land the whites have not yet discovered a use for or a mineral under) of Oklahoma...not one person who knew of the white-friendly stance the Poncas had long held and heard his eloquent plea to be given that smallest gift...to be considered a person, a human being, could hear that and not be moved.Humanity is the basic thread that ties us all together.
There are differences to be sure. Differences of gender, of culture, of interests, abilities, intellect, breeding, and millions of other differences. But at the root, we are all people who, when our hand is pierced, bleed the same color.I like to think that in our "enlightened" times no person would be treated like Standing Bear, considered less than a person. Sadly, too many people on this vale of tears have axes to grind they are unwilling to put down long enough to admit they, like Standing Bear, are a person, and every person should be treated with dignity and respect.Standing Bear was a person and a good man. I hope of each of us the same can be said.
I seem to stand on the bank of a river. My wife and little girl are beside me. In front, the water is wide and impassable, and behind it there are perpendicular cliffs. No man of my race ever stood there before. There is no tradition to guide me. A flood has begun to rise around us. I look despairingly at the great cliffs. I see a steep, stony way leading upward. I grasp the hand of my child. My wife follows. I lead the way up the sharp rocks, while the waters still rise behind us.
Finally, I see a rift in the rocks, I feel the prairie breeze strike my cheek.I turn to my wife and child with a shout that we are saved! We will return to the Swift Running Water that pours down between the green islands. There are the graves of my fathers. There again we will pitch our tipis and build our fires.
But a man bars the passage! He is a thousand times more powerful than I. Behind him, I see soldiers as numerous as leaves on the trees. They will obey that man's orders. I too must obey his orders. If he says that I cannot pass, I cannot. The long struggle will have been in vain. My wife and child and I must return, and sink beneath the flood. We are weak, and faint, and sick. I cannot fight.
He paused, bowing his head....Standing Bear looked (judge) Elmer S. Dundy in the eye, then declared in a low, intense voice, "You are that man."
Dando-Collins, Stephen, Standing Bear is a Person:The true story of a Native American's Quest for Justice, Cambridge, Ma, 2004, p.128-129 excerpted.
The speech was made in a dramatic setting. Standing Bear was a Ponca chief. His people had become farmers, and rather prosperous ones. Governmental clerical errors coupled with stupidity to cause the Poncas to be "removed" from their homelands to Oklahoma where, at the time of this trial, 158 of them had already died in but a short time.
Standing Bear had seen his son die. His son had made him promise to take his bones back to be buried with his ancestors. Standing Bear and roughly 25 members of his tribe illegally left their "home", a band of wind-torn tents so unlike the comfortable log cabins of their homelands. His goal was to bury his sons bones and, perchance, return to the land the Poncas had never agreed to leave. They were forced to leave despite a clause in their treaty they could only be moved with written consent of their tribe...consent that was NEVER given.
General Crook, of whom I have much to say, both good and bad, conspired with a journalist, a couple of lawyers, and a judge to try a new kind of case...a case that Indians were human beings with rights, not merely wards of a state so corrupt the man responsible for their welfare was a member of the "Indian Ring", a group of people profiting by short-changing treaty-promised supplies, ignoring death and devastation in the name of a dollar. Well, lots of dollars.
Native Americans had no rights before the courts. They had less rights than even slaves prior to the Civil War and their lot got worse after it.Standing Bear was not only non-violent...twice he saved the lives of soldiers, keeping them from starving and freezing to death. The Poncas, forcibly and illegally removed from their home, even as they were on the journey that would kill so many so soon, saved numerous of their soldier escorts (read "guards") when the soldiers were swept off their horses and were drowning while fording a river. The fearless Poncas immediately dived in and saved them.
Their day in court arrived and Standing Bear made his eloquent plea. Oh, how I wish I had his power for speaking to the heart. Not one person who knew the story of the chiefs forced to walk hundreds of miles by the filth that was their agent, sworn to help them, not one person who knew of the putrid, horrifying conditions that were killing Native Americans by the hundreds every year in the "Indian Territory" (best translated "land the whites have not yet discovered a use for or a mineral under) of Oklahoma...not one person who knew of the white-friendly stance the Poncas had long held and heard his eloquent plea to be given that smallest gift...to be considered a person, a human being, could hear that and not be moved.Humanity is the basic thread that ties us all together.
There are differences to be sure. Differences of gender, of culture, of interests, abilities, intellect, breeding, and millions of other differences. But at the root, we are all people who, when our hand is pierced, bleed the same color.I like to think that in our "enlightened" times no person would be treated like Standing Bear, considered less than a person. Sadly, too many people on this vale of tears have axes to grind they are unwilling to put down long enough to admit they, like Standing Bear, are a person, and every person should be treated with dignity and respect.Standing Bear was a person and a good man. I hope of each of us the same can be said.
Heroes of another color
One of my greatest pleasures growing up came from a collection of records. These were the big old 12" or so versions that played at 33RPM. I remember trying to find needles when one would break and the tragedy when a record got scratched. It was an interesting conundrum; the more I liked a record, the more it would get played. The more it got played, the more likely it was to get scratched. So what was worse; playing it and scratching it or not playing it in the first place?
There was one set of records where it was never a question. I loved the Lone Ranger records. It was a set of 5 or 6 records that each had I believe three episodes on them. I listened to them over and over. I loved hearing his adventures as he and Tonto rode around foiling bank robbers, thieves, killers, and even occasionally Indians.
I never really thought about "pidgin" or broken English when Tonto spoke, nor did I think of him any different than I did the Lone Ranger himself. It never occurred to me that some people might think less or more of him, or any other person, because they weren't Caucasian.
George W. Trendle was far from perfect, but the Lone Ranger's Creed meant a lot. Even though it was 20 years later before I found out about the creed, there was never a question...it showed through in all those old radio broadcasts.
If you have never read it, here is one version:
"I believe that to have a friend,a man must be one. That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world. That God put the firewood there but that every man must gather and light it himself.In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right. That a man should make the most of what equipment he has. That 'This government,of the people, by the people and for the people' shall live always. That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number. That sooner or later...somewhere...somehow...we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.That all things change but truth,and that truth alone, lives on forever.In my Creator, my country, my fellow man."The Lone Ranger
http://www.endeavorcomics.com/largent/ranger/creed.html
This was different from the all men created equal portion of the Declaration of Independence. In the Lone Ranger there was the opposite of institutionalized racism. Oh, sure, there were the dying gasps of it...the aforementioned pidgin spoken by Tonto being the best example...but those were the exception rather than the rule.
The lessons I learned from listening to the Lone Ranger were many. I learned that faithfulness to friends through good times and bad was a high ideal. I learned that friendship had no race or gender. Tonto was the friend of the Lone Ranger...and that was a friendship based on equality.This equality was exemplified in many ways. The Lone Ranger never hesitated to give Tonto important jobs. He trusted his life unhesitatingly to the hands of this other man. He never "looked down" on him or demeaned him because he wasn't white...no, instead he respected him for his intelligence, strength, and integrity.
I think the points were made even stronger because they were never verbalized. Time and again Tonto saved the life of the Lone Ranger (from what I have seen of the television shows this was less common, although on radio it was quite a frequent occurrence. On tape and record I suppose I should say....) and the Lone Ranger knew he could count on Tonto.They never had jealousy or mistrust between them. They rode together, they ate together, they acted as a team.
This sounds like a lot of hero worship...and it is. A lot of my formative years were spent listening to them on tapes and talking about them and yes...I even remember the one book I had of them. The attitudes of the Lone Ranger and Tonto actually had a huge impact on my own.
I think one thing that really stood out was it was never made a point that Tonto was Native American or that the Lone Ranger was white. That wasn't important. And it should not be.
I think that creed, point by point, is something everyone would do well to follow.Go out today and be a friend to someone who needs one.Do not just be prepared to improve the world, actually do something that makes it so.Live in such a way that good is done for many people.and if anyone asks "Who was that Masked Man", simply say, "Why, I'm surprised you didn't know. Why, that's the Lone Ranger!"Hi ho Silver.....aaawwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy
There was one set of records where it was never a question. I loved the Lone Ranger records. It was a set of 5 or 6 records that each had I believe three episodes on them. I listened to them over and over. I loved hearing his adventures as he and Tonto rode around foiling bank robbers, thieves, killers, and even occasionally Indians.
I never really thought about "pidgin" or broken English when Tonto spoke, nor did I think of him any different than I did the Lone Ranger himself. It never occurred to me that some people might think less or more of him, or any other person, because they weren't Caucasian.
George W. Trendle was far from perfect, but the Lone Ranger's Creed meant a lot. Even though it was 20 years later before I found out about the creed, there was never a question...it showed through in all those old radio broadcasts.
If you have never read it, here is one version:
"I believe that to have a friend,a man must be one. That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world. That God put the firewood there but that every man must gather and light it himself.In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right. That a man should make the most of what equipment he has. That 'This government,of the people, by the people and for the people' shall live always. That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number. That sooner or later...somewhere...somehow...we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.That all things change but truth,and that truth alone, lives on forever.In my Creator, my country, my fellow man."The Lone Ranger
http://www.endeavorcomics.com/largent/ranger/creed.html
This was different from the all men created equal portion of the Declaration of Independence. In the Lone Ranger there was the opposite of institutionalized racism. Oh, sure, there were the dying gasps of it...the aforementioned pidgin spoken by Tonto being the best example...but those were the exception rather than the rule.
The lessons I learned from listening to the Lone Ranger were many. I learned that faithfulness to friends through good times and bad was a high ideal. I learned that friendship had no race or gender. Tonto was the friend of the Lone Ranger...and that was a friendship based on equality.This equality was exemplified in many ways. The Lone Ranger never hesitated to give Tonto important jobs. He trusted his life unhesitatingly to the hands of this other man. He never "looked down" on him or demeaned him because he wasn't white...no, instead he respected him for his intelligence, strength, and integrity.
I think the points were made even stronger because they were never verbalized. Time and again Tonto saved the life of the Lone Ranger (from what I have seen of the television shows this was less common, although on radio it was quite a frequent occurrence. On tape and record I suppose I should say....) and the Lone Ranger knew he could count on Tonto.They never had jealousy or mistrust between them. They rode together, they ate together, they acted as a team.
This sounds like a lot of hero worship...and it is. A lot of my formative years were spent listening to them on tapes and talking about them and yes...I even remember the one book I had of them. The attitudes of the Lone Ranger and Tonto actually had a huge impact on my own.
I think one thing that really stood out was it was never made a point that Tonto was Native American or that the Lone Ranger was white. That wasn't important. And it should not be.
I think that creed, point by point, is something everyone would do well to follow.Go out today and be a friend to someone who needs one.Do not just be prepared to improve the world, actually do something that makes it so.Live in such a way that good is done for many people.and if anyone asks "Who was that Masked Man", simply say, "Why, I'm surprised you didn't know. Why, that's the Lone Ranger!"Hi ho Silver.....aaawwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy
My writing; Trail of Broken Treaties
In 1972 several Native American activist groups combined forces to attempt a march on Washington. They had two names, but the one that stuck was the Trail of Broken Treaties. This expedition was smaller than expected, poorly planned, and executed with difficulty. Somehow they managed to reach Washington D.C.One result of the poor planning and execution was they ended up without a place to stay.
I am sure few people today remember the takeover of the BIA building but that is what happened. In the days that followed a lot of things went wrong. Promises were unkept by the government due to bungling, low level bureaucrats. Doors opened and closed due to misunderstandings, miscommunication, and misdeeds. Neither side had the moral high ground.
Actually, saying "either side" is a misnomer. There were three or four interconnected and overlapping groups on both the Native American side and the government side. That further illustrates the confusion.
Well, due to a series of circumstances it seemed the police would take the building by storm. As it turned out cooler heads prevailed. After the Trail of Broken Treaties left for home it was discovered the sheer level of vandalism they had performed.Hundreds of thousands of documents were destroyed. Lamps were smashed, graffiti covered the walls, flags were shredded, decorations destroyed, and many worse things.
Some people have tried to defend this vandalism. And perhaps they are right to do so...I don't know and cannot say. Reasons include the mis-handled (and unintentionally broken) promises, unwillingness of some members of government to treat with them, tension and fear about the forthcoming police attack, and similar stresses. Again...maybe they were right and maybe they were wrong. I was not there and may not have the right to say.
But what I can say is too often in life people take excuses and apply them, no matter how tenuous the thread. Alcohol, drugs...people are excused for the behavior because they are just high or drunk. Teenagers make choices that have life long consequences and are excused for their hormones.We can all come up with excuses for what we do that is wrong. That takes little effort and less intelligence.
Standing up and being accountable for the actions we take is a different matter. Sometimes those things are right, sometimes they are wrong, and sometimes they fall into that grey area where they are neither right nor wrong. Accountability is something more than saying yeah, I screwed up. It is moving to rectify the wrong and, even more important, take steps to insure it does not reoccur.
A lot of irreparable harm was done by what happened in the BIA building. Not just to the documents...to the Native American activist movements. Distrust of each other would plague them for years to come. The general public would dismiss much of their rhetoric due to the perception of them, particularly the AIM members, as thugs, vandals, and criminals.
Were those judgments fair? It is hard to say. What is fair to say is if they had not used their surroundings as an excuse for destruction their world would look different today.There is an important lesson there. My actions come from me and there is no excuse for not behaving in ways that are never harmful to others.
I am sure few people today remember the takeover of the BIA building but that is what happened. In the days that followed a lot of things went wrong. Promises were unkept by the government due to bungling, low level bureaucrats. Doors opened and closed due to misunderstandings, miscommunication, and misdeeds. Neither side had the moral high ground.
Actually, saying "either side" is a misnomer. There were three or four interconnected and overlapping groups on both the Native American side and the government side. That further illustrates the confusion.
Well, due to a series of circumstances it seemed the police would take the building by storm. As it turned out cooler heads prevailed. After the Trail of Broken Treaties left for home it was discovered the sheer level of vandalism they had performed.Hundreds of thousands of documents were destroyed. Lamps were smashed, graffiti covered the walls, flags were shredded, decorations destroyed, and many worse things.
Some people have tried to defend this vandalism. And perhaps they are right to do so...I don't know and cannot say. Reasons include the mis-handled (and unintentionally broken) promises, unwillingness of some members of government to treat with them, tension and fear about the forthcoming police attack, and similar stresses. Again...maybe they were right and maybe they were wrong. I was not there and may not have the right to say.
But what I can say is too often in life people take excuses and apply them, no matter how tenuous the thread. Alcohol, drugs...people are excused for the behavior because they are just high or drunk. Teenagers make choices that have life long consequences and are excused for their hormones.We can all come up with excuses for what we do that is wrong. That takes little effort and less intelligence.
Standing up and being accountable for the actions we take is a different matter. Sometimes those things are right, sometimes they are wrong, and sometimes they fall into that grey area where they are neither right nor wrong. Accountability is something more than saying yeah, I screwed up. It is moving to rectify the wrong and, even more important, take steps to insure it does not reoccur.
A lot of irreparable harm was done by what happened in the BIA building. Not just to the documents...to the Native American activist movements. Distrust of each other would plague them for years to come. The general public would dismiss much of their rhetoric due to the perception of them, particularly the AIM members, as thugs, vandals, and criminals.
Were those judgments fair? It is hard to say. What is fair to say is if they had not used their surroundings as an excuse for destruction their world would look different today.There is an important lesson there. My actions come from me and there is no excuse for not behaving in ways that are never harmful to others.
Movie Review:Hombre
It is important to contextualize this movie. The Red Power movement was in full swing. AIM, among others, was a household name. Awareness of Native Americans was rising...as was sympathy for the plight of the Native Americans. They also were viewed as somewhat tragic heroes.Into this came the movie Hombre.
Movie posters advertised it as "Hombre means Man. Paul Newman is Hombre."The opening credits rolled over a red background showing stylized stereotypical Native American characters. From the very opening this movie made it clear it would present Native Americans in a positive light.
Elements that represented the "Indian" side of Newman included a stoic acceptance of what was, a willingness to mind his own business regardless of what was going on around him, a quietness, a capability, a patience, and so forth. Several times things were said that culminated when the burgeoning love interest says, "You don't get tired, you don't get hungry, you don't get thirsty, nothing gets you riled". The clear implication was these were desirable traits and that they originated with his Native American upbringing.
It was pointed out he left white "civilization" because it had nothing for him...the "Apache way of life" was superior for him. On the stagecoach was the openly racist Indian Agent for the reservation Hombre was from. At one point stage robbers pointed out he was a thief...he just did it on paper. They delineated the historically accurate way many agents purchased beef on paper that never existed and split the profits with the cattlemen. This is a sad page in our nations history and it was brought out in the movie. At a time when people had a heightened awareness of governmental wrongs, it is likely much of the audience would have recognized this as historically accurate.
Newman was presented very positively throughout and as a representative in the film of what was "right" (in the eyes of '66 U.S.), he came across as Native Americans being superior in every way but two.
First, as the cowardly, greedy, dishonest agent expressed, "White people stick together. You will learn that some day." The movie assumed the actions in the bar would have demonstrated that Hombre DID stick with his Apache brethren but saw no need to risk his own life for people whose stupidity endangered the entire party.
Second, when he was living as an Apache he was filthy of face and clothing with long, unkempt hair. In the 60s, that actually may have been the positive portrayal, but his clean cut appearance once he went to claim his inheritance can read either way.
Regardless, his death at the end of the movie was sort of the late 60s way. The hero could not ultimately overcome all odds but must fall to fear, prejudice, mistreatment, and undervalument.
In terms of Dreamcatchers, it was definitely a statement that Native Americans were maltreated yet still superior to the dominant culture in many ways and worthy of emulation. This one requires some further study to assess more fully the complete impact.
Movie posters advertised it as "Hombre means Man. Paul Newman is Hombre."The opening credits rolled over a red background showing stylized stereotypical Native American characters. From the very opening this movie made it clear it would present Native Americans in a positive light.
Elements that represented the "Indian" side of Newman included a stoic acceptance of what was, a willingness to mind his own business regardless of what was going on around him, a quietness, a capability, a patience, and so forth. Several times things were said that culminated when the burgeoning love interest says, "You don't get tired, you don't get hungry, you don't get thirsty, nothing gets you riled". The clear implication was these were desirable traits and that they originated with his Native American upbringing.
It was pointed out he left white "civilization" because it had nothing for him...the "Apache way of life" was superior for him. On the stagecoach was the openly racist Indian Agent for the reservation Hombre was from. At one point stage robbers pointed out he was a thief...he just did it on paper. They delineated the historically accurate way many agents purchased beef on paper that never existed and split the profits with the cattlemen. This is a sad page in our nations history and it was brought out in the movie. At a time when people had a heightened awareness of governmental wrongs, it is likely much of the audience would have recognized this as historically accurate.
Newman was presented very positively throughout and as a representative in the film of what was "right" (in the eyes of '66 U.S.), he came across as Native Americans being superior in every way but two.
First, as the cowardly, greedy, dishonest agent expressed, "White people stick together. You will learn that some day." The movie assumed the actions in the bar would have demonstrated that Hombre DID stick with his Apache brethren but saw no need to risk his own life for people whose stupidity endangered the entire party.
Second, when he was living as an Apache he was filthy of face and clothing with long, unkempt hair. In the 60s, that actually may have been the positive portrayal, but his clean cut appearance once he went to claim his inheritance can read either way.
Regardless, his death at the end of the movie was sort of the late 60s way. The hero could not ultimately overcome all odds but must fall to fear, prejudice, mistreatment, and undervalument.
In terms of Dreamcatchers, it was definitely a statement that Native Americans were maltreated yet still superior to the dominant culture in many ways and worthy of emulation. This one requires some further study to assess more fully the complete impact.
Desert Patrol, 1932
There are two villains in Desert Patrol. The first one introduced is in the opening scenes when "Apache Joe" captures and murders a Texas Ranger. The depiction of Native Americans is as follows:He wears black, early Hollywood Code for outlaws. This is matched by the black worn by Rand, the "brains" end of the outlaw gang and by Steele changing from white clothes to black when he goes undercover.
Apache Joe is called a "loco half breed" which brings the response that he is touchy about his heritage. The insinuation is that being half Indian somehow makes him inferior. It is clear that having an Indian heritage is something to be ashamed of. Later on it is mentioned he wears beads on his vest because his mother was a squaw...a comment that leads to him knocking down Drury, who has had a change of heart and no longer wishes to be an outlaw.
Thus heritage as being an Indian is coded to be something to be embarrassed and ashamed of. The only Native American in the film is a heartless, cruel criminal who keeps others in crime through intimidation and savagery.
A secondary theme is his lack of intelligence. When someone suggests removing Rand from the picture and running the entire smuggling operation them selves, he demures; "We will leave the brain work to him and stick with what we know" which seems to be hanging out guarding some unnamed smuggled goods, intimidation, and not much else.
A final piece in his character is his nature. He is cold, brutal, intimidating, willing to torture, and, as one man refers to him, "He is worse than bull headed. He's an insane savage."
Thus this movie has nothing positive to say about Apache Joe, the half-breed. No sympathetic or neutral images are portrayed. At the same time, it did establish him as an important member in a leadership role. Since this is the first movie reviewed for Dreamcatchers, it is too early to tell if that is a positive or a negative.
Apache Joe is called a "loco half breed" which brings the response that he is touchy about his heritage. The insinuation is that being half Indian somehow makes him inferior. It is clear that having an Indian heritage is something to be ashamed of. Later on it is mentioned he wears beads on his vest because his mother was a squaw...a comment that leads to him knocking down Drury, who has had a change of heart and no longer wishes to be an outlaw.
Thus heritage as being an Indian is coded to be something to be embarrassed and ashamed of. The only Native American in the film is a heartless, cruel criminal who keeps others in crime through intimidation and savagery.
A secondary theme is his lack of intelligence. When someone suggests removing Rand from the picture and running the entire smuggling operation them selves, he demures; "We will leave the brain work to him and stick with what we know" which seems to be hanging out guarding some unnamed smuggled goods, intimidation, and not much else.
A final piece in his character is his nature. He is cold, brutal, intimidating, willing to torture, and, as one man refers to him, "He is worse than bull headed. He's an insane savage."
Thus this movie has nothing positive to say about Apache Joe, the half-breed. No sympathetic or neutral images are portrayed. At the same time, it did establish him as an important member in a leadership role. Since this is the first movie reviewed for Dreamcatchers, it is too early to tell if that is a positive or a negative.
Book Review: The New Indian
Published in 1968, this book is older than I am. This particular bit of literature is from the first (and possibly only) printing.
Mr. Steiner is not Native American but he certainly has an affinity for them.The New Indians" looks at the roots and rise of Native American politics as seen in the rising wave of Civil Rights. 1968 was such a pivotal year, not least because that was the year Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. The book is related in a weird way.MLK Jr. brings forth such heated debate. Some people look at him almost as a modern day God for his work while others hate him and think of him as an agitator. Naturally, the truth is in between but without him it is questionable how much progress the Civil Rights Movement would have made. When no positive change has been seen for close to a hundred years it takes people taking extraordinary measures to accomplish new things.Steiner takes up that task.
It might be argued he relied too heavily on Vine Deloria Jr....or, considering the impact the Delorias have had in literature dating back to Ella, perhaps not heavily enough.In any case, he did a nice job of touching on the surface issues such as why Native Americans would distrust the "Anglo Saxons" and how the "Indian thought processes" differ from "White thought processes".
He brought history to bear and also current events...I was particularly fascinated with his theories on global tribal nationalism as evidenced by the Asian and African decolonization.This book was a wonderful look at the rise of the Red Power movement, the motivations, and possibilities. It is particularly invaluable because it is a look at events as they transpired and therefore could not know the rest of the story...
Too often historians are guilty of flawed upstreaming. They assume the outcome is known and guides the events that lead to it rather than recognizing the result is because of what happened...cause and result are two vastly divergent ideas.A person living through a turbulent time is in the perfect position to present their side of the story. Of course, a lot of behind the scenes happenings are outside their zone of awareness, but that perhaps adds to their value rather than detracts. At the risk of sounding like the paternalistic over watcher so despised by Steiner, it takes an outside eye to understand the whole picture.All in all, as the first book in my Dreamcatchers project, this was indeed a fortuitous find that will have more to bear on the project as it moves along.
Mr. Steiner is not Native American but he certainly has an affinity for them.The New Indians" looks at the roots and rise of Native American politics as seen in the rising wave of Civil Rights. 1968 was such a pivotal year, not least because that was the year Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. The book is related in a weird way.MLK Jr. brings forth such heated debate. Some people look at him almost as a modern day God for his work while others hate him and think of him as an agitator. Naturally, the truth is in between but without him it is questionable how much progress the Civil Rights Movement would have made. When no positive change has been seen for close to a hundred years it takes people taking extraordinary measures to accomplish new things.Steiner takes up that task.
It might be argued he relied too heavily on Vine Deloria Jr....or, considering the impact the Delorias have had in literature dating back to Ella, perhaps not heavily enough.In any case, he did a nice job of touching on the surface issues such as why Native Americans would distrust the "Anglo Saxons" and how the "Indian thought processes" differ from "White thought processes".
He brought history to bear and also current events...I was particularly fascinated with his theories on global tribal nationalism as evidenced by the Asian and African decolonization.This book was a wonderful look at the rise of the Red Power movement, the motivations, and possibilities. It is particularly invaluable because it is a look at events as they transpired and therefore could not know the rest of the story...
Too often historians are guilty of flawed upstreaming. They assume the outcome is known and guides the events that lead to it rather than recognizing the result is because of what happened...cause and result are two vastly divergent ideas.A person living through a turbulent time is in the perfect position to present their side of the story. Of course, a lot of behind the scenes happenings are outside their zone of awareness, but that perhaps adds to their value rather than detracts. At the risk of sounding like the paternalistic over watcher so despised by Steiner, it takes an outside eye to understand the whole picture.All in all, as the first book in my Dreamcatchers project, this was indeed a fortuitous find that will have more to bear on the project as it moves along.
my own writing
“Indian.” The very word conjures up images of bloodthirsty hordes of painted savages whooping and shouting, wantonly killing, raping, looting and destroying outnumbered pioneers on their westward journey, laden with all their worldly treasure. It conjures thoughts of scalped and mutilated bodies. Phrases like the Fetterman Massacre mingle with the Battle of the Little BigHorn. Terror that Tecumseh might have succeeded in uniting the tribes shares the field with numerous other reports of Indian atrocities.Perhaps the impressions are juxtaposed against the flight of Chief Joseph, the Trail of Tears, or the attack on Black Kettles camp. The picturesque noble warrior riding his pony, head hanging in defeat as his way of life is swept away rounds out the image.There is only one problem with these stereotypes. They are not even close to being correct. The seizing of the United States was far different from what the average person believes. Certainly there were moments of savagery and destruction but most of the land seized was apart from warfare.It has long been a battle fought more with pen and paper than guns and knives. For example, take a look at the Fettermen Massacre. This event is heavily coded to show the Indians as a heartless, savage, uncivilized, murderous bunch who mowed down hapless white men in a frenzy of bloodlust.Only people who have never done even basic research would ever believe this. “Massacre” was applied to it. That word is coded to make people believe innocent and helpless people were killed. Thus, regardless of evidence or reality, the perpetrators must be evil and the victims must be heroic.In truth, Fettermen was a soldier who had boasted he could ride through the entire Sioux nation with just a handful of soldiers. He was a trained soldier. Think about that for a few seconds. Soldiers are essentially trained for one function. That is to kill. When Fettermen led his roughly 80 men over the hill his intention was to kill the Sioux he hated so much. Instead, he was outwitted, outfought, and his command wiped out.It was not a completely one-sided conflict. Some Sioux died, although how many is purely a matter of conjecture. It certainly was not a massacre in the sense of overwhelming force being brought to bear against hapless victims.It is safe to assume the complete loss of a detail was not something the U.S. Army wanted to admit to. The various Native American tribes could not be conquered by mere force of arms. Their way of life was too fluid, it was too easy for them to move from place to place, and their spirit was too strong. It would not be until the land was filled with people that the Native Americans would be fully defeated. Any event that would slow or stop the flow of settlers would postpone that ultimate “victory”.With that in mind, the U.S. Army could not allow the thought that mere “Indians” were a threat to a trained, armed, and dangerous cavalry patrol to enter the collective consciousness. Instead, they positioned it as a massacre, thus preserving the myth of invincibility, the idea that the cavalry could handle anything the “savages” through at them.Contrast this with the “heroic” soldiers who ruthlessly slaughtered the women and children of Black Kettles camp. Surrounded, fleeing into the snow clutching such devastating weapons as babies and blankets they were shot down with little or no chance to defend themselves. Yet, curiously, this murder of peaceful innocents entered the annals of history as a battle whereas the killing of soldiers is a massacre.How is it that when Native Americans kill, even in battle, it is a massacre, but when soldiers kill, even women and children, it is called a battle? The only battle was the court of public opinion. Someone must have thought the average citizen would not stand for the killing of people who were no threat. Why else would it have been positioned this way?This is far from the only inaccurate stereotype people have developed about Native Americans and the events surrounding the “Westward Movement”. Another instance would be scalping.It somehow has entered the lexicon of Americana as a savage, uncivilized, and bloodthirsty practice to scalp the enemy. It is then worth noting that many anthropologists, ethnologists, and historians believe scalping was begun by the Spanish conquistadors, not by the Native Americans. Furthermore, many of the plains and desert tribes such as the Apache never practiced scalping. Mountain men, by contrast, were noted for their scalping practices. Furthermore, bounties were offered for the scalps of various tribes at one time or another. Stories of women having their most intimate regions “scalped” and displayed are prevalent in the literature produced by the people living in the conceptualized “Old West”. “Heroes” such as Kit Carson were known to have played catch with these and other anatomical portions.Why, then, is it the Native Americans who were castigated for the practice of scalping? It is a virtual certainty that few people are aware of the realities of scalping and mutilation. The truth would shatter their preconceptions of what it meant to be Indian.The picture of the “noble warrior” is just as inaccurate as the idea of the “bloodthirsty savage”. It is another example of how perceptions were structured to make people feel okay about seizing lands from another people. It is an example of how realities were altered to justify the continued ignoring of a people thrown into poverty and hopelessness. It is designed to make sure they remain “Indians” and never become “Native Americans” or, more to the point, human beings.As long as we can maintain stereotypical views of peoples who, in reality, are quite dissimilar, we can continue to ride around with Dream Catchers on the rearview mirror that we bought from someone at a roadside stand.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Bonanza
2 Bannocks fight over injured white man. 1 says, "If a white man is scalped, all the Bannocks will be blamed. We must learn to live in peace."
One who saves Ben Cartwright is married to a Shoshone who wears a cross and says, "You followed 'Love thy neighbor'".
Ben: "It was an injun that tried to kill me, I know that."
the two who saved him (man & wife) are accepted ny neither Shoshone nor Bannock because they married. Ben is accepting of them, offering to give them land.
Visitor to the Cartwrights: "I ain't staying in a place where injuns is welcome."
Adam: "Then why don't you leave?"
Ben: "The red man knows more about hunting...fishing...the white man knows more about farming. Together there is more than enough to live."
After Ben offers a large piece of land, Matsoh says, "I never thought such an offer could be made. The white man only takes!"
To farm instead of hunt and fight is ..."...to STOP BEING AN INDIAN! And I don't know if I can do it!"
Reasons his neighbor hates Indians
"Can't work, they are dirty, filthy...they have black hair and red skin!"
Ben: "Some day people will have something to say to people like you. I am treating them like PEOPLE."
Indians kill Ike's wife, then flee. Ike kills Matsoh's wife (who was pregnant). Indians capture and kille Ike. Captures Ben who is justified by his belief.
(inaccuracy: The Bannocks live in tepees in the mountains)
One who saves Ben Cartwright is married to a Shoshone who wears a cross and says, "You followed 'Love thy neighbor'".
Ben: "It was an injun that tried to kill me, I know that."
the two who saved him (man & wife) are accepted ny neither Shoshone nor Bannock because they married. Ben is accepting of them, offering to give them land.
Visitor to the Cartwrights: "I ain't staying in a place where injuns is welcome."
Adam: "Then why don't you leave?"
Ben: "The red man knows more about hunting...fishing...the white man knows more about farming. Together there is more than enough to live."
After Ben offers a large piece of land, Matsoh says, "I never thought such an offer could be made. The white man only takes!"
To farm instead of hunt and fight is ..."...to STOP BEING AN INDIAN! And I don't know if I can do it!"
Reasons his neighbor hates Indians
"Can't work, they are dirty, filthy...they have black hair and red skin!"
Ben: "Some day people will have something to say to people like you. I am treating them like PEOPLE."
Indians kill Ike's wife, then flee. Ike kills Matsoh's wife (who was pregnant). Indians capture and kille Ike. Captures Ben who is justified by his belief.
(inaccuracy: The Bannocks live in tepees in the mountains)
Monday, August 18, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Research Topic 20:Harpers Weekly
Remington's Harper's Weekly articl in 1890-91 discussed "Indians as Irregular Cavalry" and found uses for the Indians.
Research Topic 18
Frederick Jackson Turner, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History", July 12, 1893
was given at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.
was given at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.
Gunfighter Nation:THe Myth of the Frontier in 20th Century America
Gunfighter Nation:The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America, Slotkin, Richard, Atheneum, 1992
"Seven years after Kennedy's nomination, American troops would be describing Vietnam as 'Indian Country' and search-and-destroy missions as a game of 'cowboys and Indians' ; and Kennedy's ambassador to Vietnam would justify a massive military escalation by citing the necessity of moving the 'Indians' away from the "fort' so that the 'settlers' could plant 'corn'." (p. 3)
This quote is from a section on how Kennedy used the concept of "Frontier" to identify his campaign.
"1890, the moment when the landed frontier of the United States was officially declared 'closed', the moment when 'frontier' became primarily a term of ideological rather than geographical location." (p.4)
"The myth of the Frontier is our oldest and most characteristic myth, expressed in a body of literature, folklore, ritual, historiography, and polemics produced over a period of three centuries. According to this myth-historiography, the conquest of the wilderness and the subjugation or displacement of the Native Americans who originally inhabited it have been the means to our achievement of a national identity, a democratic polity, an over-expanding economy and a phenomenally dynamic and 'progressive' civilization." (p. 10)
"Violence is central to both the historical development of the Frontier and its mythic representation." (p. 11)
"The moral landscape of the Frontier Myth is divided by significant borders, of which the wilderness/civilization, Indian/White border is the most basic. The American must cross the border into "Indian Country' and experience a 'regression' to a more primitive and natural condition of life so that the false values of the 'metropolis' can be purged and a new, purified social contract enacted." (p. 14)
"The heroes must understand and at times take the roles of Indians." ( (p. 14)
"Based on the historical Daniel Boone, Hawkeye became the model for future versions of the frontier hero in the writings of antebellum historians, journalists, and politicians interested in the important questions of Indian policy, emigration, and westward expansion." (p. 16)
Hawkeye was the hero of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking tales.
Roosevelt read Francis Parkman. (p. 33)
"LikeCooper, (Francis) Parkman represents history as a contest between 'nations' or 'races', each with its own distinctive and inherent set of 'gifts' and propensities. His accounts of intertribal rivalries established as historical orthodoxy the idea that Indian warfare was characteristically exterminationist and genocidal in its objectives and tactics." (p. 35)
July 12th, 1893: Frederick Jackson Turner published, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History", a key bit of literature.
..."and the vision of the westward settlements as a refuge from the tyranny and corruption...(p. 30)
"The histories they produced portrayed the Frontier as the source of exemplary tales that provided a model of the workings of natural, social, and moral law in history. From these tales they derived a paradigm of interpretation and a model of social behavior which, if understood and followed, would keep Americans true to the values and practices of republican democracy despite the transformation of the economy." (p.32)
"By associating 'savages' with the class of White 'failures' under the rubric 'cumberers of the earth', Roosevelt was working within a tradition of public discourse that dated to the newspaper editorials of the mid-1870s, when labor disorders attending the depression of 1873 coincided with a period of Indian hostilities over the Black Hills of Dakota (not far from Roosevelt's ranch)." (p. 40)
"Like Parkman's histories, The Winning of the West treats the Indian wars as the central matter of American history." (p. 42)
"Instead of the biological exchange with savages of another race or folk, the Americans participate in a spiritual exchange, taking from the enemy certain abstract ideas or principles but accepting no admixture of blood." (p. 47)
It was at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 that Frederick Jackson Turner gave his speech "The Significance of the Frontier in American History"
At the 1893 Exposition the walk itself reflected ascending races (Social Darwinism) with Indians equal to blacks. (p. 63-64)
"The American Indians in the Midway were the objects of overt hostility from the White crowds..." (p. 65)
"'Buffalo Bill's Wild West' was for more than thirty years (1883-1916) one of the largest, most popular, and most successful businesses in the field of commercial entertainment. The Wild West was not only a major influence on American ideas about the frontier past at the turn of the century; it was a highly influential overseas advertisement for the United States during the period of massive European immigration..." (p 66-67)
Sitting Bull and Geronimo both performed; their status as famous and authentic figures proclaimed the historical accuracy of the Wild West performances (p. 68)
"Cody advertised himself negotiating the post-Wounded Knee peace treaty and "charging into a village to rescue White captives". (p. 78)
"Cody framed the ceremony with a set of overt appeals for reconciliation between Whites and Indians." (p. 78)
"The Program now represented 'the savages' as 'The Former Foe-Present Friend-the American." (p. 79)
"It is also characteristic of Cody that he emphasizes the ethnic and racial diversity of the soldiers, 'white, red and black', who followed Roosevelt." (p. 84)
referring to the Rough Rider Charge at San Juan Hill as presented in his show in 1899.
"In an interview given to the New York World in April, 1898, Cody proposed a 'Wild West' approach to the coming war; 'Buffalo Bill Writes on "How I Could Drive the Spaniards from Cuba with 30,000 Indians" assisted by such chieftains of the 'noble but drying race' as Geronimo and Jack Red Cloud..."
"Buffalo Bull himself was identified as 'an avowed expansionist' and was quoted as declaring that the American Indian 'outranks the Filipino in the Matter of Common Honesty'." (p. 85)
"In Harper's Weekly in 1890-91, Remington's article Indians as Irregular Cavalry finds use for the Indians. 'Remington imagines the new regimental order as a utopia in which the noblest aspects of savagery are preserved to serve as reminders to the White man of the primal virtues of a warrior race." (p. 96)
"From the 1840s through the Reconstruction period, most cheap frontier stories followed the formula of Cooper's historical romances, using Indian warfare and captivities (actual or threatened) and a colonial or Revolutionary War setting to provide a "historical" context for the action of the plot. The cast nearly always included a Hawkeye-type hunter and his faithful Indian companion; a monstrous savage, aided by a White renegade; and a set of ingenues, male and female, awaiting rescue by the 'man who knows Indians'." (p. 127)
Deadwood Dick Series of books, late 1800s
"References to the Black Hills, Sitting Bull, and Custer abound and establish the drama as belonging to the Frontier but Indians are rarely the primary villains, and on occasion they appear as allies of the hero in a struggle against a common enemy. That enemy is usually identified with the wealthy classes in general..." (p .144)
Detective Series in the 'cheap literature' genre
"...and 'Sam Sixkiller', the Cherokee detective, is a full-blooded Indian whose racial gifts of skill, courage, and ferocity make him the Jameses' most dangerous foe." (p. 148)
More New York Detective: Old King Brady
"In the West, Brady finds himself in sympathy with the working man, Indians, and even outlaws victimized by corrupt officials and businessmen." (p. 149)
Other Brady Stories
"...takes a forthrightly pro-Indian stance. The villain of the piece is a crooked railroad baron who underpays his clerks and foments an Indian war to cover his defalcations. ..The Indian Ghost Dancers, led by Sitting Bull, play the traditional role of the cavalry, riding to rescue the detective and his young associate." (p. 151)
"In the end, Brady represents Sitting Bulls' death as "Murder by the United States government"... "(He was) a good friend to me, and while I was among the Indians I learned some things to make me ashamed to call myself an American Citizen." Though hardly unique, this expression of sympathy is rather strong, measured against the editorial opinion of the day." (p. 151)
Burrough's character John Carter
"As a descendant of the First Families of Virginia he is not ashamed to include the blood of Pocahontas in his lineage, and he has lived with the Sioux as a warrior among warriors." (p. 203)
Early movies sought authenticity; however, the "Indians living in small cabins and dressing like dirt farmers ' were not accepted:people believed the image of "feathered warriors on painted horses"'" (p. 236)
Federal Writers Project (FWP)
"Angie Debo's chapter on the history of Oklahoma was suppressed by officials in charge of the state project because it took a favorable view of the state's development under Indian home-rule and gave a devastating account of the way in which Indians had been abused by Anglo-American proponents of statehood and economic modernization." (p. 282)
In the late 1930s and early 1940s "The Indian Wars figured prominently as subjects for epics." Some "...deal with attempts by military officers to avoid an Indian War. To do so they have to fend off the Indian's savage propensity for bloodshed on the one hand, while on the other exposing and defeating the machinations of American politicians, land-grabbers, and war profiteers." (p. 288)
Dodge City (1939) "The arrest of Surrett presents Hatton as the protector of Indian rights; and this, taken with the end of buffalo hunting, tells us we are witnessing the last act of the Indian fighting phase of frontier history. Indians and buffalo alike are now under the protection of well-disposed White men like Hatton." (p. 289)
The Oklahoma Kid (1939)
"The opening titles ominously inform us that this 'last free frontier' has been acquired through an act of economic and racial injustice- the unfair expropriation of Indian land by a government devoted to the advancement of whites." (293) "The montage is accompanied by narration which explains that 'land-grabbing' and 'empire building' are what drive the process and that violence and theft are endemic to it. The Whites steal Indian land by the gun..." (p. 294)
When he is speaking of Blacks in WWII, "Ideological change was reinforced by the ethnic and racial mixing that mobilization fostered and by the mobility (geographical and social) that the expansion of war industries promoted." (p. 320)
"But in Fort Apache the meaning of the symbols is invented; the colonel of the regiment is the fanatic and tyrant who breaks the code of warrior, women's values stand equal to men's, the Indians are victims and honorable fighters rather than savage rebels or aggressors, and the film's last stand is less a glorification of Western civilization than the culmination of a subtle critique of American democratic pretenses." (p. 335)
"York's mission marks his character as the White man who does indeed know and sympathize with the Indians and is not afraid to go among them disarmed." (p. 341)
"The average audience share for Western series from 1957-58 to 1960-61 varied between 32.5 percent and 36 percent, reflecting a phenomenal level of audience interest. (P 348)
"But televisions' importance as a medium for disseminating mass-culture mythology, for most of the 1950-70 period movies remained the most important source of myth-making." (p. 348)
In Rio Grande "We understand that the Apache are their enemies, but that they do not hate Indians (the scouts belong to the fort)" (p. 356)
"Beginning in 1950 a second "cult" developed, centered on a sympathetic portrayal of the Indian side of the cavalry/Indian wars. The iconography and ideological state of this 'cult of the Indian' was the mirror image of the 'cult of the cavalry'. Its' terms offered a safe and effective vehicle for a liberal critique of the Cold War and the unfulfilled promises of the New Deal." (p. 365)
"Like the cavalry Western, the Cult of the Indian was an elaboration of the constituent elements in the complex mixture of Fort Apache. Ford's sympathetic treatment in that film anticipated both the general phenomenon of pro-Indian film and the specific figure who would be its primary symbol." (p. 367)
"Sympathetic depictions of Indians and polemics for Indian rights were not without precedent in Western literature and earlier movie traditions. The 'Indian Romance' had been a staple of nineteenth-century fiction. In 1911-14 Thomas Ince had made a number of Westerns that treated Indians sympathetically, and successful feature movies had been made of The Squaw Man, Helen Hunt Jackson's Ramona, Oliver LaFarge's Laughing Boy, and Zane Grey's Vanishing American. Warner Brother's Massacre (1934) presented contemporary Indian problems in the muckraking terms of the social drama." (p. 367-368)
"Seven years after Kennedy's nomination, American troops would be describing Vietnam as 'Indian Country' and search-and-destroy missions as a game of 'cowboys and Indians' ; and Kennedy's ambassador to Vietnam would justify a massive military escalation by citing the necessity of moving the 'Indians' away from the "fort' so that the 'settlers' could plant 'corn'." (p. 3)
This quote is from a section on how Kennedy used the concept of "Frontier" to identify his campaign.
"1890, the moment when the landed frontier of the United States was officially declared 'closed', the moment when 'frontier' became primarily a term of ideological rather than geographical location." (p.4)
"The myth of the Frontier is our oldest and most characteristic myth, expressed in a body of literature, folklore, ritual, historiography, and polemics produced over a period of three centuries. According to this myth-historiography, the conquest of the wilderness and the subjugation or displacement of the Native Americans who originally inhabited it have been the means to our achievement of a national identity, a democratic polity, an over-expanding economy and a phenomenally dynamic and 'progressive' civilization." (p. 10)
"Violence is central to both the historical development of the Frontier and its mythic representation." (p. 11)
"The moral landscape of the Frontier Myth is divided by significant borders, of which the wilderness/civilization, Indian/White border is the most basic. The American must cross the border into "Indian Country' and experience a 'regression' to a more primitive and natural condition of life so that the false values of the 'metropolis' can be purged and a new, purified social contract enacted." (p. 14)
"The heroes must understand and at times take the roles of Indians." (
"Based on the historical Daniel Boone, Hawkeye became the model for future versions of the frontier hero in the writings of antebellum historians, journalists, and politicians interested in the important questions of Indian policy, emigration, and westward expansion." (p. 16)
Hawkeye was the hero of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking tales.
Roosevelt read Francis Parkman. (p. 33)
"Like
July 12th, 1893: Frederick Jackson Turner published, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History", a key bit of literature.
..."and the vision of the westward settlements as a refuge from the tyranny and corruption...(p. 30)
"The histories they produced portrayed the Frontier as the source of exemplary tales that provided a model of the workings of natural, social, and moral law in history. From these tales they derived a paradigm of interpretation and a model of social behavior which, if understood and followed, would keep Americans true to the values and practices of republican democracy despite the transformation of the economy." (p.32)
"By associating 'savages' with the class of White 'failures' under the rubric 'cumberers of the earth', Roosevelt was working within a tradition of public discourse that dated to the newspaper editorials of the mid-1870s, when labor disorders attending the depression of 1873 coincided with a period of Indian hostilities over the Black Hills of Dakota (not far from Roosevelt's ranch)." (p. 40)
"Like Parkman's histories, The Winning of the West treats the Indian wars as the central matter of American history." (p. 42)
"Instead of the biological exchange with savages of another race or folk, the Americans participate in a spiritual exchange, taking from the enemy certain abstract ideas or principles but accepting no admixture of blood." (p. 47)
It was at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 that Frederick Jackson Turner gave his speech "The Significance of the Frontier in American History"
At the 1893 Exposition the walk itself reflected ascending races (Social Darwinism) with Indians equal to blacks. (p. 63-64)
"The American Indians in the Midway were the objects of overt hostility from the White crowds..." (p. 65)
"'Buffalo Bill's Wild West' was for more than thirty years (1883-1916) one of the largest, most popular, and most successful businesses in the field of commercial entertainment. The Wild West was not only a major influence on American ideas about the frontier past at the turn of the century; it was a highly influential overseas advertisement for the United States during the period of massive European immigration..." (p 66-67)
Sitting Bull and Geronimo both performed; their status as famous and authentic figures proclaimed the historical accuracy of the Wild West performances (p. 68)
"Cody advertised himself negotiating the post-Wounded Knee peace treaty and "charging into a village to rescue White captives". (p. 78)
"Cody framed the ceremony with a set of overt appeals for reconciliation between Whites and Indians." (p. 78)
"The Program now represented 'the savages' as 'The Former Foe-Present Friend-the American." (p. 79)
"It is also characteristic of Cody that he emphasizes the ethnic and racial diversity of the soldiers, 'white, red and black', who followed Roosevelt." (p. 84)
referring to the Rough Rider Charge at San Juan Hill as presented in his show in 1899.
"In an interview given to the New York World in April, 1898, Cody proposed a 'Wild West' approach to the coming war; 'Buffalo Bill Writes on "How I Could Drive the Spaniards from Cuba with 30,000 Indians" assisted by such chieftains of the 'noble but drying race' as Geronimo and Jack Red Cloud..."
"Buffalo Bull himself was identified as 'an avowed expansionist' and was quoted as declaring that the American Indian 'outranks the Filipino in the Matter of Common Honesty'." (p. 85)
"In Harper's Weekly in 1890-91, Remington's article Indians as Irregular Cavalry finds use for the Indians. 'Remington imagines the new regimental order as a utopia in which the noblest aspects of savagery are preserved to serve as reminders to the White man of the primal virtues of a warrior race." (p. 96)
"From the 1840s through the Reconstruction period, most cheap frontier stories followed the formula of Cooper's historical romances, using Indian warfare and captivities (actual or threatened) and a colonial or Revolutionary War setting to provide a "historical" context for the action of the plot. The cast nearly always included a Hawkeye-type hunter and his faithful Indian companion; a monstrous savage, aided by a White renegade; and a set of ingenues, male and female, awaiting rescue by the 'man who knows Indians'." (p. 127)
Deadwood Dick Series of books, late 1800s
"References to the Black Hills, Sitting Bull, and Custer abound and establish the drama as belonging to the Frontier but Indians are rarely the primary villains, and on occasion they appear as allies of the hero in a struggle against a common enemy. That enemy is usually identified with the wealthy classes in general..." (p .144)
Detective Series in the 'cheap literature' genre
"...and 'Sam Sixkiller', the Cherokee detective, is a full-blooded Indian whose racial gifts of skill, courage, and ferocity make him the Jameses' most dangerous foe." (p. 148)
More New York Detective: Old King Brady
"In the West, Brady finds himself in sympathy with the working man, Indians, and even outlaws victimized by corrupt officials and businessmen." (p. 149)
Other Brady Stories
"...takes a forthrightly pro-Indian stance. The villain of the piece is a crooked railroad baron who underpays his clerks and foments an Indian war to cover his defalcations. ..The Indian Ghost Dancers, led by Sitting Bull, play the traditional role of the cavalry, riding to rescue the detective and his young associate." (p. 151)
"In the end, Brady represents Sitting Bulls' death as "Murder by the United States government"... "(He was) a good friend to me, and while I was among the Indians I learned some things to make me ashamed to call myself an American Citizen." Though hardly unique, this expression of sympathy is rather strong, measured against the editorial opinion of the day." (p. 151)
Burrough's character John Carter
"As a descendant of the First Families of Virginia he is not ashamed to include the blood of Pocahontas in his lineage, and he has lived with the Sioux as a warrior among warriors." (p. 203)
Early movies sought authenticity; however, the "Indians living in small cabins and dressing like dirt farmers ' were not accepted:people believed the image of "feathered warriors on painted horses"'" (p. 236)
Federal Writers Project (FWP)
"Angie Debo's chapter on the history of Oklahoma was suppressed by officials in charge of the state project because it took a favorable view of the state's development under Indian home-rule and gave a devastating account of the way in which Indians had been abused by Anglo-American proponents of statehood and economic modernization." (p. 282)
In the late 1930s and early 1940s "The Indian Wars figured prominently as subjects for epics." Some "...deal with attempts by military officers to avoid an Indian War. To do so they have to fend off the Indian's savage propensity for bloodshed on the one hand, while on the other exposing and defeating the machinations of American politicians, land-grabbers, and war profiteers." (p. 288)
Dodge City (1939) "The arrest of Surrett presents Hatton as the protector of Indian rights; and this, taken with the end of buffalo hunting, tells us we are witnessing the last act of the Indian fighting phase of frontier history. Indians and buffalo alike are now under the protection of well-disposed White men like Hatton." (p. 289)
The Oklahoma Kid (1939)
"The opening titles ominously inform us that this 'last free frontier' has been acquired through an act of economic and racial injustice- the unfair expropriation of Indian land by a government devoted to the advancement of whites." (293) "The montage is accompanied by narration which explains that 'land-grabbing' and 'empire building' are what drive the process and that violence and theft are endemic to it. The Whites steal Indian land by the gun..." (p. 294)
When he is speaking of Blacks in WWII, "Ideological change was reinforced by the ethnic and racial mixing that mobilization fostered and by the mobility (geographical and social) that the expansion of war industries promoted." (p. 320)
"But in Fort Apache the meaning of the symbols is invented; the colonel of the regiment is the fanatic and tyrant who breaks the code of warrior, women's values stand equal to men's, the Indians are victims and honorable fighters rather than savage rebels or aggressors, and the film's last stand is less a glorification of Western civilization than the culmination of a subtle critique of American democratic pretenses." (p. 335)
"York's mission marks his character as the White man who does indeed know and sympathize with the Indians and is not afraid to go among them disarmed." (p. 341)
"The average audience share for Western series from 1957-58 to 1960-61 varied between 32.5 percent and 36 percent, reflecting a phenomenal level of audience interest. (P 348)
"But televisions' importance as a medium for disseminating mass-culture mythology, for most of the 1950-70 period movies remained the most important source of myth-making." (p. 348)
In Rio Grande "We understand that the Apache are their enemies, but that they do not hate Indians (the scouts belong to the fort)" (p. 356)
"Beginning in 1950 a second "cult" developed, centered on a sympathetic portrayal of the Indian side of the cavalry/Indian wars. The iconography and ideological state of this 'cult of the Indian' was the mirror image of the 'cult of the cavalry'. Its' terms offered a safe and effective vehicle for a liberal critique of the Cold War and the unfulfilled promises of the New Deal." (p. 365)
"Like the cavalry Western, the Cult of the Indian was an elaboration of the constituent elements in the complex mixture of Fort Apache. Ford's sympathetic treatment in that film anticipated both the general phenomenon of pro-Indian film and the specific figure who would be its primary symbol." (p. 367)
"Sympathetic depictions of Indians and polemics for Indian rights were not without precedent in Western literature and earlier movie traditions. The 'Indian Romance' had been a staple of nineteenth-century fiction. In 1911-14 Thomas Ince had made a number of Westerns that treated Indians sympathetically, and successful feature movies had been made of The Squaw Man, Helen Hunt Jackson's Ramona, Oliver LaFarge's Laughing Boy, and Zane Grey's Vanishing American. Warner Brother's Massacre (1934) presented contemporary Indian problems in the muckraking terms of the social drama." (p. 367-368)
"Like the 'Cult of the Cavalry', the 'Cult of the Indian' continued to develop after 1950. Between 1950 and 1965 usage of the two forms diverged; the cavalry film continued to be responsive primarily to Cold War issues, while the Indian film provided a setting for stories related to the domestic struggle over Civil Rights. The Cult of the Indian was particularly active during periods of intensified civil-rights activism, in 1950-55 and 1960-64. After 1965, the two genres would show a tendency to 'merge', in response to the simultaneous interrelated crisis over "Black Power" and the Vietnam War." (p. 377)
"From the earliest Indian-war narratives down through Fenimore Cooper to the dime novel and the Western movie, the best allies of American myth-heroes have always been wild Indians rather than tame or reservation Indians." (p. 449)
"This was what General Custer had in mind when he made his famous declaration that if he were an Indian, he would prefer dying with the hostiles to living on a reservation." (P. 449)
Letters printed in Time in response to photos and stories about My Lai:
"A Native American connects the massacre to the primal race-war of American history; 'history repeats itself and this is not the first time American soldiers have murdered women and children...how about Wounded Knee'" (p. 589)
"At least since 1966, Native Americans and their culture had become important symbols of rebellion in the so-called "counter culture' of college-age White Americans. The connection had been recognized (and propagated) by the mass media since the Woodstock Festival in the summer of 1969, and cultural critics like Leslie Fiedler had noted the phenomenon as early as 1967-68." (p. 590-591)
"Three types of alternative Western were produced during the 1969-72 period, which might be called the formalist, the neo-realist, and the counterculture (or 'New Cult of the Indian') Western." (p. 629)
"From a political view, the most important of the alternative types were the 'counterculture Westerns' that comprised the new Cult of the Indian. But where the earlier films of the this type had been content to demonstrate the ethical culpability of Whites and appeal for peaceful co-existence until the Native Americans could learn civilized ways, the new films suggested that Native American culture might be a morally superior alternative to 'civilization'. The renewal of the cult began as early as 1964-65 with John Ford's Cheyenne Autumn and Sidney Salkow's Great Sioux Massacre. These films appeared just as American critics and scholars were undertaking a broad and thoroughgoing re-evaluation of Native American history and ethnography. Leslie Fiedler's Return of the Vanishing American (1966) forcibly reminded academic and public intellectuals of the Indian's significance as both fact and symbol in American history and culture and identified them as embodiments as a set of ALTERNATIVE values in sexuality, culture, and politics. Popularizations of the new ethnography suggested that by studying native societies we might discover alternative models of development. This renewed interest coincided with (and was energized by) the revival of Native American political movements, whose emergence on the national scene was signaled by the organization of the American Indian Movement (AIM), formed in 1968, and the publication of Vine Deloria's Custer Died for Your Sins (1969).
But Native Americans were also pressed into service as symbols in political and cultural controversies that chiefly concerned non-Indian groups. For the civil-rights and anti-war constituencies, Indians figured as the archetypal victims of White America's bigotry and imperialism. Proponents of the so-called 'counter culture' paid homage to the values they found in various Native American societies. For the new environmentalist movement, the Native American's religious bond to nature symbolized an ecological critique of the exploitation and pollution of the natural world that accompanied industrial progress. Some New Left ideologies idealized tribal society as a distinctly 'American' and 'exceptional' alternative to both the self-congratulatory rationalizations of American capitalism and the totalitarian doctrines of Leninism. Critics of American social and personal psy- (p. 629)
chology, of the deflection or repression of sexual and imaginative energy of the 'Preotestant' or 'work ethic' celebrated Indians as symbols of liberal libido. The drug-culture variant of this symbolism looked to the peyote cults (as well as orientalism) for models of a lifestle based on chemical mysticism. Beads, fringes, and painted faces symbolized the rebellion of Woodstock Nation by signaling the affiliation of the 'youth culture' with the long-despised 'Other'. The ultimate absorption of this revalued 'Indian' into the mainstream of American culture was registered by Life's devoting a special section (in 1971) to 'Our Indian Heritage', complete with a revisionist account of the Indian Wars which emphasized White responsibility and celebrated Indian leaders like Crazy Horse as 'great men', not 'savages'." (p. 629-630)
Concepts
'The noble warrior"
"completely honest"
supernatural understanding of nature
Indians are viewed as noble or as tragic but never as normal people. The theory of a "romanticized people"
"completely honest"
supernatural understanding of nature
Indians are viewed as noble or as tragic but never as normal people. The theory of a "romanticized people"
Black Indians (PBS special)
Daniel Blake Smith wrote it.
Crispus Attucks was a black Indian, as was Frederick Douglass, Tina Turner and Jesse Jackson.
Charles Crosley: "People see them in the movies and think if you don't look like that and act like that, they don't think you are an Indian."
Wilcoss "I was Naragansett when to be an Indian was unheard of."
Common Experience
Whites discriminate because they are black and blacks discriminate because they aren't black.
"for their safety's sake you would put them down (on the birth certificate) as black or white (instead of Indian.)
"It boils down to the color of your skin."
"...still not good to be a person of color...you try to hide it."
"Pencil genocide" or "erasing the ancestor"
Black-Indians would be marked as white to avoid the stigma of being black
"Right now it is very vogue to be an Indian."
"Indian is a cultural question."
Crispus Attucks was a black Indian, as was Frederick Douglass, Tina Turner and Jesse Jackson.
Charles Crosley: "People see them in the movies and think if you don't look like that and act like that, they don't think you are an Indian."
Wilcoss "I was Naragansett when to be an Indian was unheard of."
Common Experience
Whites discriminate because they are black and blacks discriminate because they aren't black.
"for their safety's sake you would put them down (on the birth certificate) as black or white (instead of Indian.)
"It boils down to the color of your skin."
"...still not good to be a person of color...you try to hide it."
"Pencil genocide" or "erasing the ancestor"
Black-Indians would be marked as white to avoid the stigma of being black
"Right now it is very vogue to be an Indian."
"Indian is a cultural question."
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Lone Ranger
No other old time radio western has influenced American culture like the Lone Ranger. From the first broadcast in 1933, to the first movie serial in 1938, to the television program in 1949 the Lone Ranger has been a part of the myths created about the Western United States. The Lone Ranger has created a great part of the mystique of the Wild West with his pursuit of justice on his white horse, Silver and his trademark silver bullets. The Lone Ranger began as a humble radio show and has become a legend of American popular culture.
http://gaga.essortment.com/lonerangerradi_rlmb.htm
http://www.bookzap.com/product_p/westerns1445_dvd.htm
the word kemosabe considered derogatory by some;
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/12/22/Kemosabe-Slur.041222.html
http://gaga.essortment.com/lonerangerradi_rlmb.htm
http://www.bookzap.com/product_p/westerns1445_dvd.htm
the word kemosabe considered derogatory by some;
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/12/22/Kemosabe-Slur.041222.html
http://www.fallsapart.com/interviews.html Scott Malcomson, who wrote the recent One Drop of Blood, the American Misadventure of Race Alexie is conscious that he has a voice few native Americans possess, at a time when attention is focused on them as it has not been for years. The growth of casinos, which are now permitted on their land, has created a bubble of money which has made some powerful politically. It has led, too, to a growth in the number of people claiming native American blood, now 2.6m, up from 1.8m only a decade ago, although still less than 1% of the nation.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/race_relations/OneAmerica/transcript.html
http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_024000_movies.htm http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_003500_benderchief.htm http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_004700_boyscoutsand.htm http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_005000_burnettebob.htm
document.getElementById("MsgContainer").innerHTML='\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cmeta http-equiv\x3dContent-Type content\x3d\x22text\x2fhtml\x3b charset\x3dunicode\x22\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cmeta name\x3dGenerator content\x3d\x22Microsoft SafeHTML\x22\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3ctitle\x3e\x3c\x2ftitle\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cp\x3e\x3cfont size\x3d2 face\x3dArial\x3e\x3ca href\x3d\x22http\x3a\x2f\x2fwww.fallsapart.com\x2finterviews.html\x22 target\x3d\x22_blank\x22\x3ehttp\x3a\x2f\x2fwww.fallsapart.com\x2finterviews.html\x3c\x2fa\x3e\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cbr\x3e\x3cfont face\x3d\x22Times New Roman\x22\x3eScott Malcomson, who wrote the recent One Drop of Blood, the American Misadventure of Race\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cbr\x3e\x3cfont face\x3d\x22Times New Roman\x22\x3eAlexie is conscious that he has a voice few native Americans possess, at a time when attention is focused on them as it has not been for years. The growth of casinos, which are now permitted on their land, has created a bubble of money which has made some powerful politically. It has led, too, to a growth in the number of people claiming native American blood, now 2.6m, up from 1.8m only a decade ago, although still less than 1\x25 of the nation. \x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x3c\x2fp\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cp\x3e\x3cfont size\x3d2 face\x3dArial\x3e\x3ca href\x3d\x22http\x3a\x2f\x2fwww.pbs.org\x2fnewshour\x2fbb\x2frace_relations\x2fOneAmerica\x2ftranscript.html\x22 target\x3d\x22_blank\x22\x3ehttp\x3a\x2f\x2fwww.pbs.org\x2fnewshour\x2fbb\x2frace_relations\x2fOneAmerica\x2ftranscript.html\x3c\x2fa\x3e\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3c\x2fp\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cp\x3e\x3cfont size\x3d2 face\x3dArial\x3e\x3ca href\x3d\x22http\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_024000_movies.htm\x22 target\x3d\x22_blank\x22\x3ehttp\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_024000_movies.htm\x3c\x2fa\x3e\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cbr\x3e\x3cfont size\x3d2 face\x3dArial\x3e\x3ca href\x3d\x22http\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_003500_benderchief.htm\x22 target\x3d\x22_blank\x22\x3ehttp\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_003500_benderchief.htm\x3c\x2fa\x3e\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cbr\x3e\x3cfont size\x3d2 face\x3dArial\x3e\x3ca href\x3d\x22http\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_004700_boyscoutsand.htm\x22 target\x3d\x22_blank\x22\x3ehttp\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_004700_boyscoutsand.htm\x3c\x2fa\x3e\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cbr\x3e\x3cfont size\x3d2 face\x3dArial\x3e\x3ca href\x3d\x22http\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_005000_burnettebob.htm\x22 target\x3d\x22_blank\x22\x3ehttp\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_005000_burnettebob.htm\x3c\x2fa\x3e\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3c\x2fp\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a';
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/race_relations/OneAmerica/transcript.html
http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_024000_movies.htm http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_003500_benderchief.htm http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_004700_boyscoutsand.htm http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_005000_burnettebob.htm
document.getElementById("MsgContainer").innerHTML='\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cmeta http-equiv\x3dContent-Type content\x3d\x22text\x2fhtml\x3b charset\x3dunicode\x22\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cmeta name\x3dGenerator content\x3d\x22Microsoft SafeHTML\x22\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3ctitle\x3e\x3c\x2ftitle\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cp\x3e\x3cfont size\x3d2 face\x3dArial\x3e\x3ca href\x3d\x22http\x3a\x2f\x2fwww.fallsapart.com\x2finterviews.html\x22 target\x3d\x22_blank\x22\x3ehttp\x3a\x2f\x2fwww.fallsapart.com\x2finterviews.html\x3c\x2fa\x3e\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cbr\x3e\x3cfont face\x3d\x22Times New Roman\x22\x3eScott Malcomson, who wrote the recent One Drop of Blood, the American Misadventure of Race\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cbr\x3e\x3cfont face\x3d\x22Times New Roman\x22\x3eAlexie is conscious that he has a voice few native Americans possess, at a time when attention is focused on them as it has not been for years. The growth of casinos, which are now permitted on their land, has created a bubble of money which has made some powerful politically. It has led, too, to a growth in the number of people claiming native American blood, now 2.6m, up from 1.8m only a decade ago, although still less than 1\x25 of the nation. \x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x3c\x2fp\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cp\x3e\x3cfont size\x3d2 face\x3dArial\x3e\x3ca href\x3d\x22http\x3a\x2f\x2fwww.pbs.org\x2fnewshour\x2fbb\x2frace_relations\x2fOneAmerica\x2ftranscript.html\x22 target\x3d\x22_blank\x22\x3ehttp\x3a\x2f\x2fwww.pbs.org\x2fnewshour\x2fbb\x2frace_relations\x2fOneAmerica\x2ftranscript.html\x3c\x2fa\x3e\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3c\x2fp\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cp\x3e\x3cfont size\x3d2 face\x3dArial\x3e\x3ca href\x3d\x22http\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_024000_movies.htm\x22 target\x3d\x22_blank\x22\x3ehttp\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_024000_movies.htm\x3c\x2fa\x3e\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cbr\x3e\x3cfont size\x3d2 face\x3dArial\x3e\x3ca href\x3d\x22http\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_003500_benderchief.htm\x22 target\x3d\x22_blank\x22\x3ehttp\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_003500_benderchief.htm\x3c\x2fa\x3e\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cbr\x3e\x3cfont size\x3d2 face\x3dArial\x3e\x3ca href\x3d\x22http\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_004700_boyscoutsand.htm\x22 target\x3d\x22_blank\x22\x3ehttp\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_004700_boyscoutsand.htm\x3c\x2fa\x3e\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x3cbr\x3e\x3cfont size\x3d2 face\x3dArial\x3e\x3ca href\x3d\x22http\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_005000_burnettebob.htm\x22 target\x3d\x22_blank\x22\x3ehttp\x3a\x2f\x2fcollege.hmco.com\x2fhistory\x2freaderscomp\x2fnaind\x2fhtml\x2fna_005000_burnettebob.htm\x3c\x2fa\x3e\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3c\x2fp\x3e\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a\x0d\x0a';
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Army Vs. Carlisle
Carlisle Vs. Armyt: Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner, {And the Forgotten Story of Football's Greatest Battle}, Lars Anderson, Random House, New York, 2007
He ignores the general distaste for Carlisle and suggests it was a positive thing for most.
Carlisle was a positive thing for the view of Indians because it showed the "savage race" playing the "white man's game" and playing it well, they were the underdogs in size and numbers yet won many, many games. People started cheering for the Indians.
Thorpe in the Olympics brought attention to Carlisle and resulted in positive media attention.
He and another Indian did well which brought them huge followings of fans.
After Carlisle beat Pittsburgh 45-8
"After the final whistle blew, the fans gave Thorpe and the rest of the Indians thunderous applause. Thirty-three years after the founding of Carlisle, the school's football team had helped transform the public's attitude toward Indians. No longer feared and reviled, the Carlisle Indians had become almost mythological figures in Warner's eleventh year at the school, symbolizing a last chance at greatness for a dying race. Thorpe's Sac and Fox tribe in Oklahoma, for instance, had only six hundred members left, and every time Thorpe touched the ball it was as if time had been turned back and the Indian people were again flourishing. This was the myth they were creating, and white fans couldn't turn their eyes away from the Carlisle boys, the ultimate underdogs." (p. 268, speaking of the 1912 season)
The team traveled a lot, including to the West Coast to play...and "upset" California. As they toured people flocked to see them. Thus awareness was at a high level...and they became sympathetic figures.
He ignores the general distaste for Carlisle and suggests it was a positive thing for most.
Carlisle was a positive thing for the view of Indians because it showed the "savage race" playing the "white man's game" and playing it well, they were the underdogs in size and numbers yet won many, many games. People started cheering for the Indians.
Thorpe in the Olympics brought attention to Carlisle and resulted in positive media attention.
He and another Indian did well which brought them huge followings of fans.
After Carlisle beat Pittsburgh 45-8
"After the final whistle blew, the fans gave Thorpe and the rest of the Indians thunderous applause. Thirty-three years after the founding of Carlisle, the school's football team had helped transform the public's attitude toward Indians. No longer feared and reviled, the Carlisle Indians had become almost mythological figures in Warner's eleventh year at the school, symbolizing a last chance at greatness for a dying race. Thorpe's Sac and Fox tribe in Oklahoma, for instance, had only six hundred members left, and every time Thorpe touched the ball it was as if time had been turned back and the Indian people were again flourishing. This was the myth they were creating, and white fans couldn't turn their eyes away from the Carlisle boys, the ultimate underdogs." (p. 268, speaking of the 1912 season)
The team traveled a lot, including to the West Coast to play...and "upset" California. As they toured people flocked to see them. Thus awareness was at a high level...and they became sympathetic figures.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Research Topic 17
Charles Alexander Eastman
early 20th century author, heavily involved in religious movements
early 20th century author, heavily involved in religious movements
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
This book by Dee Brown was hugely influential, very widely read, and repeatedly reprinted. It was a watershed in opening the eyes of "the Average American" to another way of looking at the Indian Wars, Manifest Destiny, and the Reservation system. It continues to be well regarded and heavily referenced.
Certainly it expanded awareness of N.A. points of view and, by presenting them as heroes and underdogs, it moved people toward sympathy and a desire to empathize with the Indians.
Between 1971 and 1975 there were 39 printings. Think of the impact that many printings would have.
Certainly it expanded awareness of N.A. points of view and, by presenting them as heroes and underdogs, it moved people toward sympathy and a desire to empathize with the Indians.
Between 1971 and 1975 there were 39 printings. Think of the impact that many printings would have.
Research Topic 15
1956 Utah battle over measure barring Native Americans on reservations from voting
Research Topic 11
Makah fish-ins, 1964
* find the Hunter S. Thompson reports on the Fish-in in the Washington Journal
* find the Hunter S. Thompson reports on the Fish-in in the Washington Journal
Research Topics
John Chewie Case
Indian hunting/fishing rights battle, probably Washington State, possibly Oregon
Indian hunting/fishing rights battle, probably Washington State, possibly Oregon
The New Indians
The New Indians, Stan Steiner, 1968
Red Power representative: "We are no longer fighting for physical survival...We are going to cut the country's whole value system to shreds...we have a superior way of life...If Red Power is to be a power in this country it is because it is ideological." (X), Vine Deloria Jr.
The new generation: "university educated Indians" (X)
He argues the the turning of Indian life into "romantic myth" brought the nation peace of mind (xi)
Circumstances in Jay, Oklahoma, a town of 1120 people in 1966; "Hostile in a way so ingrained that no one needs to say anything about it..." (p. 2)
Tulsa Tribune hearkens the 400 gun-wielding Cherokees to the 1st step to the Little Big Horn again (p. 4)
Hunting & Fishing rights battles raised awareness of Indian situations. 25K Indians fought in WWII. (p. 19)
"He is the envy of all the others who want to, but cannot be, Indian." (p. 20)
WWII was cultural: 1st time since "military defeat of their forefathers 10s of thousands...left reservations." (p. 21)
Between 1950 and 1960 the number of Indian high school students went from 24K to 57K; number in college from 6500 to 17K. (p. 31)
Blatchford argues the growth of "Indian Clubs" on college campuses allowed more Indians to continue in education (p. 34)
look up quote on p. 42: "The government seem to feel...is the way we look...sing...But Indian culture is..."
"The Indian had been stereotyped to act in certain ways." p. 54
Marlon Brando, sometimes alleged to be an Indian, took part in the Fish-ins (Washington Journal). The Department of Justice moved to defend tribal fishing rights against Washington State (p. 61)
Mohawks of Caughnawaga built NY skyscrapers (P. 160)
Will Rogers: "In wars the slogan is Honor, but the object is land." (p. 162)
Monroe Jymm & James Atcitty: 1st & 2nd Indians in New Mexico House of Reps in 1964 (231-233)
Tom Lee was the 1st Indian from New Mexico in the Senate in 1966 (233)
Lloyd House was elected in Arizona (233)
Indians were politically strong in the '66 elections in the West (234)
The Washington Post had articles discussing Indian voting power (236)
South Dakota, 1963, legal battles over the state having legal jurisdiction on the reservation (245-249)
Harvard Law Review referenced "complete paternalism" towards the Native Americans (259)
"The Indian: America's Unfinished Business", 1966, propounded "do-gooder" paternalism (261)
Indian tribal nationalism: outgrowth of post-WWII move for end of colonialism in Africa & Asia? (278)
Vice President Hubert Humphrey thought so in "The Optimist" (278-279)
Red Power representative: "We are no longer fighting for physical survival...We are going to cut the country's whole value system to shreds...we have a superior way of life...If Red Power is to be a power in this country it is because it is ideological." (X), Vine Deloria Jr.
The new generation: "university educated Indians" (X)
He argues the the turning of Indian life into "romantic myth" brought the nation peace of mind (xi)
Circumstances in Jay, Oklahoma, a town of 1120 people in 1966; "Hostile in a way so ingrained that no one needs to say anything about it..." (p. 2)
Tulsa Tribune hearkens the 400 gun-wielding Cherokees to the 1st step to the Little Big Horn again (p. 4)
Hunting & Fishing rights battles raised awareness of Indian situations. 25K Indians fought in WWII. (p. 19)
"He is the envy of all the others who want to, but cannot be, Indian." (p. 20)
WWII was cultural: 1st time since "military defeat of their forefathers 10s of thousands...left reservations." (p. 21)
Between 1950 and 1960 the number of Indian high school students went from 24K to 57K; number in college from 6500 to 17K. (p. 31)
Blatchford argues the growth of "Indian Clubs" on college campuses allowed more Indians to continue in education (p. 34)
look up quote on p. 42: "The government seem to feel...is the way we look...sing...But Indian culture is..."
"The Indian had been stereotyped to act in certain ways." p. 54
Marlon Brando, sometimes alleged to be an Indian, took part in the Fish-ins (Washington Journal). The Department of Justice moved to defend tribal fishing rights against Washington State (p. 61)
Mohawks of Caughnawaga built NY skyscrapers (P. 160)
Will Rogers: "In wars the slogan is Honor, but the object is land." (p. 162)
Monroe Jymm & James Atcitty: 1st & 2nd Indians in New Mexico House of Reps in 1964 (231-233)
Tom Lee was the 1st Indian from New Mexico in the Senate in 1966 (233)
Lloyd House was elected in Arizona (233)
Indians were politically strong in the '66 elections in the West (234)
The Washington Post had articles discussing Indian voting power (236)
South Dakota, 1963, legal battles over the state having legal jurisdiction on the reservation (245-249)
Harvard Law Review referenced "complete paternalism" towards the Native Americans (259)
"The Indian: America's Unfinished Business", 1966, propounded "do-gooder" paternalism (261)
Indian tribal nationalism: outgrowth of post-WWII move for end of colonialism in Africa & Asia? (278)
Vice President Hubert Humphrey thought so in "The Optimist" (278-279)
Monday, April 14, 2008
DC Showcase Presents Jonah Hex Volume One
April-May 1972, All Star Western #3 "Promise to a Princess"
A guy is shot in the back with an arrow which has the whites choosing to say, "Now we can concentrate on doing something about those filthy savages." (P. 40)
Little Fawn speaks pidgin English, has a faithful timber wolf companion, calls guns firesticks and Hex a paleface. Hex rescues her from from a fall into the river so the Indians in turn care for him (p. 44-45)
"Mr. Craig" gave the Pawnees smallpox infested blankets (46)
The Indians die, possibly of the pox, possibly attacked by townspeople, who then die of the pox.
"The Hoax", Weird Western Tales #18, April-May 1973
Backstory is Indian attack on wagon train that separates wolf-boy from white dad. Dad then grows up hating Indians. Attacks 3, killing 2 but being killed by the third who says, "Why, white man? Why you attack us? We hunting game...no mean harm to you...why you attack us?" Naturally, he is the missing son. (137-137, 22-23)
"Blood Brothers", WWT #20, Nov-Dec 1973
Hex saves an Indian.
"What'sa matter, you against shootin' stinkin' redskins?"
Hex: "One that's lyin' on the ground, with a barrel o' whiskey sloppin' inside his head--mebbe. But mostly I'm against killin' US Cavalry Corporals whut are 6 weeks AWOL..." (153/2)
"Indians are ridin' up a dry gulch, Hex! Can't fight against the white man's repeater rifles and gatling guns! Lost their huntin' and trappin' grounds! --Can't do no more than die." (155/4) John Running Wolf on why he scouts for the Cavalry.
When a small Indian party attacks the fort:
Major: "I never thought Red Horse would try this! I'm afraid this will mean a change in Washington's liveral Indian policies!"
Hex: "Which one d'ya mean--takin' their lands, killin' their braves--or mebbe starvin' their squaws and papooses?"
Major: "What the blazes are you, Hex--an INDIAN LOVER?" (157/16)
The bad guys for the issue are William Vandermeer of the Reading, Springfiels and Abilene Railroad and the Major.
Red Horse is accused of kidnapping Muriel, a "fine Boston lady"
Hex: "Busy feller, that Indian! A little crazy, too! Sendin' undersized raidin' parties against forts--stealin' Boston ladies to do squaws' work!" (p. 159/8)
Hex: "We gotta be mighty quiet, boy! We're out to beat some real experts in the sneakin' business!" (160/9)
Muriel turns out to be the wife, not kidnap victim (162/11)
The plot: Hire renegades to attack the fort so the government will drive the Indians off the land they would not sell (164/13-14)
"Well, look who's here! Too bad you been livin' with white men so long, John! A real Indian would never have let that floor creak!" (164/14)
"Bigfoot's War!", WWT #32, Jan-Feb 1976
Haynes does dirty land deal. After being scammed the Paiutes seek vengeance.
Haynes: "...someday he and his kind will realize you can't fight progress."
Hex: "Depends on where you're lookin' at progress from." (398/5)
Turns out Haynes has been poisoning the wells with strychnine to kill the women and children painfully, drive the Paiutes from their land. He retaliates by kidnapping Haynes' daughter.
A guy is shot in the back with an arrow which has the whites choosing to say, "Now we can concentrate on doing something about those filthy savages." (P. 40)
Little Fawn speaks pidgin English, has a faithful timber wolf companion, calls guns firesticks and Hex a paleface. Hex rescues her from from a fall into the river so the Indians in turn care for him (p. 44-45)
"Mr. Craig" gave the Pawnees smallpox infested blankets (46)
The Indians die, possibly of the pox, possibly attacked by townspeople, who then die of the pox.
"The Hoax", Weird Western Tales #18, April-May 1973
Backstory is Indian attack on wagon train that separates wolf-boy from white dad. Dad then grows up hating Indians. Attacks 3, killing 2 but being killed by the third who says, "Why, white man? Why you attack us? We hunting game...no mean harm to you...why you attack us?" Naturally, he is the missing son. (137-137, 22-23)
"Blood Brothers", WWT #20, Nov-Dec 1973
Hex saves an Indian.
"What'sa matter, you against shootin' stinkin' redskins?"
Hex: "One that's lyin' on the ground, with a barrel o' whiskey sloppin' inside his head--mebbe. But mostly I'm against killin' US Cavalry Corporals whut are 6 weeks AWOL..." (153/2)
"Indians are ridin' up a dry gulch, Hex! Can't fight against the white man's repeater rifles and gatling guns! Lost their huntin' and trappin' grounds! --Can't do no more than die." (155/4) John Running Wolf on why he scouts for the Cavalry.
When a small Indian party attacks the fort:
Major: "I never thought Red Horse would try this! I'm afraid this will mean a change in Washington's liveral Indian policies!"
Hex: "Which one d'ya mean--takin' their lands, killin' their braves--or mebbe starvin' their squaws and papooses?"
Major: "What the blazes are you, Hex--an INDIAN LOVER?" (157/16)
The bad guys for the issue are William Vandermeer of the Reading, Springfiels and Abilene Railroad and the Major.
Red Horse is accused of kidnapping Muriel, a "fine Boston lady"
Hex: "Busy feller, that Indian! A little crazy, too! Sendin' undersized raidin' parties against forts--stealin' Boston ladies to do squaws' work!" (p. 159/8)
Hex: "We gotta be mighty quiet, boy! We're out to beat some real experts in the sneakin' business!" (160/9)
Muriel turns out to be the wife, not kidnap victim (162/11)
The plot: Hire renegades to attack the fort so the government will drive the Indians off the land they would not sell (164/13-14)
"Well, look who's here! Too bad you been livin' with white men so long, John! A real Indian would never have let that floor creak!" (164/14)
"Bigfoot's War!", WWT #32, Jan-Feb 1976
Haynes does dirty land deal. After being scammed the Paiutes seek vengeance.
Haynes: "...someday he and his kind will realize you can't fight progress."
Hex: "Depends on where you're lookin' at progress from." (398/5)
Turns out Haynes has been poisoning the wells with strychnine to kill the women and children painfully, drive the Paiutes from their land. He retaliates by kidnapping Haynes' daughter.
Totem Poles
Totem Poles, Hilary Stewart, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1990
Dust Jacket: "Magnificent and mystical, the towering carved logs known as 'totem poles' have become a distinctive symbol of Northwest Coast native cultures."
"With the regeneration of Native art and tradition spreading throughout the Northwest Coast since the late 1960s, the proliferation of new totem poles has been remarkable." (p. 7)
"Between the 1870s and 1920s museums acquired hundreds of poles; 1925 Canada did restoration project, & 1938 - 1940, U.S. government moved Alaska poles for tourists (p. 22)
"Ellen Neel sold many miniature totem poles to tourists in Vancouver, B.C. in late 40s." p. 22
"From the 1960s onward, awareness and appreciation of Northwest Coastal art and its traditions grew steadily among non-natives, as did a renewed sense of self-identity and pride among the native people themselves." (p. 23)
"A growing awareness of and interest in the sophisticated art form of the Northwest Coast Indians People has led to an expanding market in well crafted items made by native artisans. Quality gift shops and art galleries offer gold and silver jewelry, argillite carvings, drums, basketry, exquisitely carved and inlaid masks and headdresses, various ceremonial regalia- and many other items, including such contemporary works as silk-screen prints, carved plaques and bronze castings. And totem poles. " (P. 24)
Dust Jacket: "Magnificent and mystical, the towering carved logs known as 'totem poles' have become a distinctive symbol of Northwest Coast native cultures."
"With the regeneration of Native art and tradition spreading throughout the Northwest Coast since the late 1960s, the proliferation of new totem poles has been remarkable." (p. 7)
"Between the 1870s and 1920s museums acquired hundreds of poles; 1925 Canada did restoration project, & 1938 - 1940, U.S. government moved Alaska poles for tourists (p. 22)
"Ellen Neel sold many miniature totem poles to tourists in Vancouver, B.C. in late 40s." p. 22
"From the 1960s onward, awareness and appreciation of Northwest Coastal art and its traditions grew steadily among non-natives, as did a renewed sense of self-identity and pride among the native people themselves." (p. 23)
"A growing awareness of and interest in the sophisticated art form of the Northwest Coast Indians People has led to an expanding market in well crafted items made by native artisans. Quality gift shops and art galleries offer gold and silver jewelry, argillite carvings, drums, basketry, exquisitely carved and inlaid masks and headdresses, various ceremonial regalia- and many other items, including such contemporary works as silk-screen prints, carved plaques and bronze castings. And totem poles. " (P. 24)
The Indian in the Cupboard
The Indian in the Cupboard, Lynne Reid Banks, Doubleday, New York, 1980, In Which a 3" Plastic Indian Comes to Life
"All the Indians in films spoke a sort of English..." (p. 9) <this no doubt refers to "pidgin English">
"This Indian-his Indian- was behaving in every way like a real live Indian brave, and despite the vast difference in their size and strengths, Omri respected him..." (p. 10)
"...he said, in what he supposed was Indian English, "Me-no-hurt-you." (p. 10)
"And what about a drink? Milk? Surely Indian braves did not drink milk? They usually drank something called 'firewater' in films, which was presumably a hot drink..." (p. 18)
<This brings forth the idea that people assume all Indians are alcoholics who cannot resist the 'firewater". >
"Firewater?" (p. 20)
Omri assumes Little Bear lives in a teepee but L.B. says longhouse (p. 21)
"...yet when he saw how the Indian, who was altogether in his power, faced him boldly and hid his fear, he lost all desire to handle him- he felt it was cruel, and insulting to the Indian, who was no longer his plaything but a person he respected." (p. 22, talking about Omri)
"Surely you sleep in tepees sometimes?"
"Never," said Little Bear firmly.
"I've never heard of an Indian who didn't," said Omri. (p. 23)
"The Indian stood calmly with folded arms, evidently disapproving of this display of excitement. 'So? Magic. The spirits work much magic.'" (p. 27)
"It occurred to Omri for the first time that his idea of Indians, taken entirely from Western films, had been somehow false." (p. 29)
"The Indian hadn't seemed very surprised about being in a giant house in England. He had shown that he was very superstitious, believing in magic and in good and evil spirits." (p. 30)
<belief in spirit realm, a 'natural' connection to the sacred and supernatural)
"What else? A horse?"
"Horse!" Little Bear seemed surprised.
"Don't you ride? I thought all Indians rode."
Little Bear shook his head. "Iriquois walk." (p. 32)
He then shows a mystic connection to the horse and soon rides very well. (p. 35)
Discusses the actual foods of the Iriquois, the "Three Sisters" of Maize, corn & squash (p. 51)
"The book (On the Trail of the Iriquois), in its terribly grown-up way, was trying to tell him something about why the Indians had done such a lot of scalping. Omri had always thought it just an Indian custom, but the book seemed to say that it wasn't at all, at least not til the white man came. The white man seemed to have made the Iroquois and the Algonquin keen on scalping each other, not to mention white men, French or English as the case might be, by offering them money and whiskey and guns..." (p. 51)
Boone, the cowboy, won't eat with Little Bear.
"Don't be silly, Boone," he (Omri) said firmly.
"Ah ain't bein' silly! Them Injuns ain't just onery and savage. Them's dirty." (p. 99)
<concept; how "cowboys" are thought to have perceived Indians.>
"Looka here, Injun," said Boone. "If we're gonna fight, we're gonna fight fair. Probably ain't even a word for 'fair' in your language..." (p. 102)
"It was the usual sequencee in which the pioneer's wagons are drawn into a circle and the Indians are galloping around them while the outnumbered men of the wagon train fire muzzle-loading guns at them from through the wagon wheels." (p. 198)
Little Bear: "White men move onto land! Use water! Kill animals!" (p. 150)
"And when Boone is better, do you know what you're going to do? You're going to make him your blood brother!"
Little Bear shot him a quick, startled look. "Blood brother?"
"...It's an old Indian custom."
Little Bear looked baffled. "Not Indian custom."
"I'm sure it is! It was in a film I saw."
"White man idea. Not Indian." (p. 167)
Little Bear raised his arm in the Indian salute. (p. 178) <WHAT "Indian salute"?>
"All the Indians in films spoke a sort of English..." (p. 9) <this no doubt refers to "pidgin English">
"This Indian-his Indian- was behaving in every way like a real live Indian brave, and despite the vast difference in their size and strengths, Omri respected him..." (p. 10)
"...he said, in what he supposed was Indian English, "Me-no-hurt-you." (p. 10)
"And what about a drink? Milk? Surely Indian braves did not drink milk? They usually drank something called 'firewater' in films, which was presumably a hot drink..." (p. 18)
<This brings forth the idea that people assume all Indians are alcoholics who cannot resist the 'firewater". >
Omri assumes Little Bear lives in a teepee but L.B. says longhouse (p. 21)
"...yet when he saw how the Indian, who was altogether in his power, faced him boldly and hid his fear, he lost all desire to handle him- he felt it was cruel, and insulting to the Indian, who was no longer his plaything but a person he respected." (p. 22, talking about Omri)
"Surely you sleep in tepees sometimes?"
"Never," said Little Bear firmly.
"I've never heard of an Indian who didn't," said Omri. (p. 23)
"The Indian stood calmly with folded arms, evidently disapproving of this display of excitement. 'So? Magic. The spirits work much magic.'" (p. 27)
"It occurred to Omri for the first time that his idea of Indians, taken entirely from Western films, had been somehow false." (p. 29)
"The Indian hadn't seemed very surprised about being in a giant house in England. He had shown that he was very superstitious, believing in magic and in good and evil spirits." (p. 30)
<belief in spirit realm, a 'natural' connection to the sacred and supernatural)
"What else? A horse?"
"Horse!" Little Bear seemed surprised.
"Don't you ride? I thought all Indians rode."
Little Bear shook his head. "Iriquois walk." (p. 32)
He then shows a mystic connection to the horse and soon rides very well. (p. 35)
Discusses the actual foods of the Iriquois, the "Three Sisters" of Maize, corn & squash (p. 51)
"The book (On the Trail of the Iriquois), in its terribly grown-up way, was trying to tell him something about why the Indians had done such a lot of scalping. Omri had always thought it just an Indian custom, but the book seemed to say that it wasn't at all, at least not til the white man came. The white man seemed to have made the Iroquois and the Algonquin keen on scalping each other, not to mention white men, French or English as the case might be, by offering them money and whiskey and guns..." (p. 51)
Boone, the cowboy, won't eat with Little Bear.
"Don't be silly, Boone," he (Omri) said firmly.
"Ah ain't bein' silly! Them Injuns ain't just onery and savage. Them's dirty." (p. 99)
<concept; how "cowboys" are thought to have perceived Indians.>
"Looka here, Injun," said Boone. "If we're gonna fight, we're gonna fight fair. Probably ain't even a word for 'fair' in your language..." (p. 102)
"It was the usual sequencee in which the pioneer's wagons are drawn into a circle and the Indians are galloping around them while the outnumbered men of the wagon train fire muzzle-loading guns at them from through the wagon wheels." (p. 198)
Little Bear: "White men move onto land! Use water! Kill animals!" (p. 150)
"And when Boone is better, do you know what you're going to do? You're going to make him your blood brother!"
Little Bear shot him a quick, startled look. "Blood brother?"
"...It's an old Indian custom."
Little Bear looked baffled. "Not Indian custom."
"I'm sure it is! It was in a film I saw."
"White man idea. Not Indian." (p. 167)
Little Bear raised his arm in the Indian salute. (p. 178) <WHAT "Indian salute"?>
Black Elk Speaks
Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux as told through John G. Neidhart, (Flaming Rainbow), University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 1993
It was originally written in 1932. Now it is a "venerated classic" per the forward by Vine Deloria Junior (xii)
"In the 1960s interest began to focus on Indians and some of the spiritual realities they seemed to represent." (p. xii)
The book is the story of Black Elk's development as a Medicine Man until Wounded Knee at which point he sort of lost his sacred power.
From other sources we will see that this book was a primary source for counterculture looks and indulgences in Native American spirituality.
It was originally written in 1932. Now it is a "venerated classic" per the forward by Vine Deloria Junior (xii)
"In the 1960s interest began to focus on Indians and some of the spiritual realities they seemed to represent." (p. xii)
The book is the story of Black Elk's development as a Medicine Man until Wounded Knee at which point he sort of lost his sacred power.
From other sources we will see that this book was a primary source for counterculture looks and indulgences in Native American spirituality.
Duke: THe Life and Image of John Wayne
Duke: The Life and Image of John Wayne, Ronald L. Davis, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1998
In the movie Fort Apache (1948), "...their Native American counterparts are honorable and justified in their grievances." (p. 132)
Wayne's character, Kirby York, sympathizes with the Indians but ultimately allows a legend that blames the Indians to remain. (p. 132)
Hondo (1953)
"I'd never seen a Western in which the Indians were characterized as humans, not bloodthirsty savages." (p. 175)
"I've done as much as any man to give human dignity to the Indian," said Wayne. (p. 176)
Native Americans provide antagonist, although frequently they are shown to be fighting rightfully after treaties are broken, lands stolen, children starving...
In the movie Fort Apache (1948), "...their Native American counterparts are honorable and justified in their grievances." (p. 132)
Wayne's character, Kirby York, sympathizes with the Indians but ultimately allows a legend that blames the Indians to remain. (p. 132)
Hondo (1953)
"I'd never seen a Western in which the Indians were characterized as humans, not bloodthirsty savages." (p. 175)
"I've done as much as any man to give human dignity to the Indian," said Wayne. (p. 176)
Native Americans provide antagonist, although frequently they are shown to be fighting rightfully after treaties are broken, lands stolen, children starving...
Sunday, April 13, 2008
"The first TV cowboy was Hopalong Cassidy played by William Boyd, who went on the air in 1949. The shows were actually cut-down versions of some of the sixty-six movies he had made beginning in 1935. The other movie cowboys watched with great interest to see if cowboys could ride the TV range. They figured it was working when Hoppy showed up at a New Orleans department store to promote some of the forty Hopalong Cassidy products ---and fifty (255) thousand people showed up to meet him. Fifty thousand! In the first forty-five days the merchandise was on sale, it grossed more than one million dollars. Hoppy sold everything from roller skates to dinner plates, and in 1950 he became the first person to have his image on a lunch box. And six hundred thousand of them were sold! It didn't take much to realize that cowboys could be popular on TV.
And so, pardner, along came Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers, and the Lone Ranger, and about 117 other cowboys over the next decade. The Lone Ranger went on the air the same year as Hopalong Cassidy, after having been a popular radio program and comic book."
(p. 255-256)
"The plots on these cowboy shows were almost always the same-do whatever is necessary to sell branded merchandise. By the early 1950s stores were selling about 40 million pieces a year, from toys to clothes, including more than five million repeating cap pistols." (p. 257)
"Wyatt Earp, for example, became (257)the third most popular show on television, behind only Ed Sullivan and I Love Lucy. Among the many westerns aimed at least generally at kids were Death Valley Days, Judge Roy Bean, and Tombstone Territory. The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock was on the air for seven years and much longer in reruns." (257-258)
"Westerns became the most popular genre on TV. Most of them tried to attract an adult audience also, with the heavyweight among such shows being Gunsmoke, with James Arness, which went on the air in 1955 and lasted twenty years; in fact, it was on the air longer than it took to settle the real Old West." (258)
all above from:
When Television Was Young: Live, Spontaneous, and In Living Black and White, Ed McMahon and David Fisher, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee, 2007
my thoughts:
Children growing up with the loyal, trustworthy, courageous example of Tonto, with the sometimes realistic examples of Indians being mistreated, with the positive albeit often paternalistic portrayals where men like Matt Dillon respected the abilities and character of the Indian would grow to adulthood with a different, more positive view than those who feared attack from the Indians.
The Western idealized the fight against long odds, the hero of the underdog, the downtrodden, the beaten down...and as the plight of the Indians was publicized, that hero became the Indian. Thus we see movies like Broken Arrow and Little Big Man produced by the people who grew up listening to and watching these Westerns.
And so, pardner, along came Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers, and the Lone Ranger, and about 117 other cowboys over the next decade. The Lone Ranger went on the air the same year as Hopalong Cassidy, after having been a popular radio program and comic book."
(p. 255-256)
"The plots on these cowboy shows were almost always the same-do whatever is necessary to sell branded merchandise. By the early 1950s stores were selling about 40 million pieces a year, from toys to clothes, including more than five million repeating cap pistols." (p. 257)
"Wyatt Earp, for example, became (257)the third most popular show on television, behind only Ed Sullivan and I Love Lucy. Among the many westerns aimed at least generally at kids were Death Valley Days, Judge Roy Bean, and Tombstone Territory. The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock was on the air for seven years and much longer in reruns." (257-258)
"Westerns became the most popular genre on TV. Most of them tried to attract an adult audience also, with the heavyweight among such shows being Gunsmoke, with James Arness, which went on the air in 1955 and lasted twenty years; in fact, it was on the air longer than it took to settle the real Old West." (258)
all above from:
When Television Was Young: Live, Spontaneous, and In Living Black and White, Ed McMahon and David Fisher, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee, 2007
my thoughts:
Children growing up with the loyal, trustworthy, courageous example of Tonto, with the sometimes realistic examples of Indians being mistreated, with the positive albeit often paternalistic portrayals where men like Matt Dillon respected the abilities and character of the Indian would grow to adulthood with a different, more positive view than those who feared attack from the Indians.
The Western idealized the fight against long odds, the hero of the underdog, the downtrodden, the beaten down...and as the plight of the Indians was publicized, that hero became the Indian. Thus we see movies like Broken Arrow and Little Big Man produced by the people who grew up listening to and watching these Westerns.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Movies
Smoke Signals on Film
Celluloid Indians: Native Americans and Film
Hollywoods Indian:The Portrayal of the Native American in Film
The White Man's Indian: Images of the American Indian from Columbus to the Present
Going Native: Indians in the American Cultural Imagination
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/alexie.html
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-97629461.html
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PBX/is_2_36/ai_107124217
Celluloid Indians: Native Americans and Film
Hollywoods Indian:The Portrayal of the Native American in Film
The White Man's Indian: Images of the American Indian from Columbus to the Present
Going Native: Indians in the American Cultural Imagination
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/alexie.html
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-97629461.html
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PBX/is_2_36/ai_107124217
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Western Comics
http://hometown.aol.com/mg4273/westernc.htm
http://hometown.aol.com/mg4273/comics.htm
http://hometown.aol.com/mg4273/polit.htm
google "Native Americans in Comic Books"
"Native Americans in Comic Books" by Michael Sheyahshe
http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=9484
http://hometown.aol.com/mg4273/comics.htm
http://hometown.aol.com/mg4273/polit.htm
google "Native Americans in Comic Books"
"Native Americans in Comic Books" by Michael Sheyahshe
http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=9484
Saturday, March 15, 2008
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