Hollywood's Indian : the portrayal of the Native American in film / edited by Peter C. Rollins and John E. O'Connor.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Rollins, Peter C.

O'Connor, John E.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Indians in motion pictures.

Physical Description:

xiv, 250 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

Expanded edition.

Place of Publication:

Lexington : University Press of Kentucky, [2003]

Summary:

The bloodthirsty savage, whooping and screaming and eager to scalp any white man who dared travel west, has been a staple of film since the earliest days of the medium. More recently, Native Americans have frequently been portrayed as environmentally aware, unburdened by the trappings of modern life, with much to teach whites. In this collection of essays, seventeen scholars explore the changing depictions of Hollywood's Indian and how those representations have reflected larger changes in American society. All the contributors are concerned with Hollywood's portrayal of history, and how America's long record of mistreatment of Native Americans has been manipulated by the film industry. Though their opinions do not represent a united front, they agree that the Hollywood stereotypes that permeate our cultural consciousness bear little resemblance to reality. Offering both in-depth analyses of specific films and overviews of the industry's output, from The Vanishing American (1926) to The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), Hollywood's Indian provides insightful characterizations of the depiction of Native Americans in film. Taken as a whole the volume explores the many ways in which these portrayals have made an impact on our collective cultural life.

Contents:

Introduction. The Study of Hollywood's Indian: Still on a Scholarly Frontier? / Peter C. Rollins, John E. O'Connor 1

1. Absurd Reality II: Hollywood Goes to the Indians / Ted Jojola 12

2. The White Man's Indian: An Institutional Approach / John E. O'Connor 27

3. The Indian of the North: Western Traditions and Finnish Indians / Hannu Salmi 39

4. Trapped in the History of Film: The Vanishing American / Michael J. Riley 58

5. The Representation of Conquest: John Ford and the Hollywood Indian (1939-1964) / Ken Nolley 73

6. Cultural Confusion: Broken Arrow / Frank Manchel 91

7. The Hollywood Indian versus Native Americans: Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here / James A. Sandos, Larry E. Burgess 107

8. Native Americans in a Revisionist Western: Little Big Man / Margo Kasdan, Susan Tavernetti 121

9. Driving the Red Road: Powwow Highway / Eric Gary Anderson 137

10. "Going Indian": Dances With Wolves / Robert Baird 153

11. Deconstructing an American Myth: The Last of the Mohicans / Jeffrey Walker 170

12. Playing Indian in the 1990s: Pocahontas and The Indian in the Cupboard / Pauline Turner Strong 187

13. This Is What It Means to Say Smoke Signals: Native American Cultural Sovereignty / Amanda J. Cobb 206

Bibliography. Western Films: The Context for Hollywood's Indian / Steven Mintz 229.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0813190770

0813120446

OCLC:

53865596