Representation of Indigenous People in Film. History Research Paper

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Representation of Indigenous People in Film
In the film, indigenous representation refers to the portrayal of indigenous people, their stories, and their issues. Often, indigenous people are portrayed as individuals of few words with magical powers, or half-clothed savages (Padgett, 2016). Even though their portrayal is not the same in all films, their image is almost usually stereotypical. Regardless of whether they are portrayed as “princesses” or “warriors,” the images of indigenous people in films influence public perceptions. These inaccurate depictions negatively affect indigenous people by devaluing their culture.
Early representations of indigenous people were often marginalized and stereotyped by society and have been felt since the establishment of film. Most films were made from an American viewpoint hence being condescending to the ‘inferior and primitive’ indigenous people. With the progression of time, the representation of indigenous people has improved because of the increased involvement of indigenous people in the film industry.
Representation improved in the 1970s with films such as Little Big Man, directed by Arthur Penn. Little Big Man is a Revisionist Western: Native Americans are depicted sympathetically whereas the United States Calvary are depicted as villains. Regarding the image, this film portrayed Native Americans sympathetically and portrayed the United States military negatively. In the film, the Indians were not “demonized” because indigenous people portrayed indigenous characters in the film. Indigenous people were also depicted as real humans, capable of showing emotion, instead of “stoic.”
In 1998, a Canadian-American independent film titled Smoke Signal was released. It was written, directed by, and only starred Native Americans. Smoke Signal was a unique film in the sense that it was one of few widely distributed films in which Indians formed their narrative (Webb, 2016). The depiction of indigenous people in this film was much better than in previous films. Although the portrayals were not entirely accurate, they were evidence of progress in how indigenous people are depicted in films.
1975 saw the release of the film titled One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. In this film, Will Sampson plays a “stoic Indian.” However, unlike other films, his character is portrayed with “dignity,” an attribute that is absent in other depictions of indigenous people. Most significantly, his character is initially painted as a stereotypical Indian but evolves into a more sympathetic person who is a symbol of freedom.
Dances with Wolves is a 1990 film directed by Kevin Costner which shows how the Lakota people migh...