THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW OVER. CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER - JANA K. OF NEW YORK!
Enter for your chance to win our next giveaway at www.nativepartnership.org/giveaway.
See the rules page for more details.
Movies to win: The Only Good Indian (starring Wes Studi and featuring the Kickapoo language), Skinwalker (directed by Chris Eyre and starring Wes Studi, filmed on the Navajo reservation), Coyote Waits (starring Adam Beach, Candice Costello, and Jimmy Herman), and A Thief of Time (also directed by Chris Eyre and starring Wes Studi, Adam Beach and Shela Tousey). No movie night could be complete without snacks! Along with these 4 movies you will also receive popcorn and delicious Tanka bars.
We're deprogramming nearly 100 years of TV programming.
— Michael Greyeyes
Native Americans in Hollywood
The Buffalo Bill Wild West Show dramatized life in the west and featured reenactments of frontier events such as the capture of the Deadwood stagecoach, a pony express ride, and even Custer's Last Stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Many American audiences believed that the show was an authentic depiction of life in the Wild West. Buffalo Bill enforced this belief by bringing audiences "genuine characters." These were actual Native American performers recruited from different tribes. The Buffalo Bill Wild West Show was the beginning of many TV stereotypes about Native Americans and would shape how American audiences viewed Native people for years to come.1
Soon Hollywood began recruiting Native Americans who had performed in shows like the Wild West Show to act in motion picture films. These films borrowed heavily from the Wild West shows and continued to enforce stereotypes. However, many of these roles were filled by non-Natives. This meant Native American actors struggled to find work and were paid a lower rate.2
The American Indian Movement of the 60s and 70s brought to light the disparities of Native communities and the actual conditions of reservation life. This caused the stereotypes of Native people to shift from savage portrayals to "romanticized victims of manifest destiny." 2
In the late 1990s/ early 2000s, Native artists began producing feature-length movies on par with the Hollywood productions, starting with Smoke Signals in 1998. The director and co-producer Chris Eyre stated, "The only thing you get in making period pieces about Indians is guilt. I'm interested in doing what non-Indian filmmakers can't do, which is portray contemporary Indians." 3
Even as late as 2008, John Sanchez, Yaqui Apache and ethics professor at Penn State University, asked a group of newspaper editors an important question: Where did you learn most about American Indians? The #1 answer was TV. When he asked a group of teachers, their answer was the same. Sanchez concluded, “Many people who write about American Indians don’t know a thing about American Indians.” He stresses the need to learn more about American Indians to better distinguish between stereotypes and facts. 5
The most recent advancement in Native-led entertainment is the peacock original Rutherford Falls, featuring one of the largest staff of Native writers for television. Michael Greyeyes, who plays Terry Thomas in the show, stated, "In Native-led projects, there's a sovereignty over our image. But 'Rutherford Falls' was another level. I could always trust the scripts because they're coming from us. We're deprogramming nearly 100 years of TV programming." 4
Native Americans have come a long way in film history and are still working hard to remove the stereotypes that have been prevalent for hundreds of years. Increasing projects that feature more Native directors, producers, writers, and actors allows them to tell their stories through a Native lens and allows viewers to see more accurate portrayals of Native peoples.
Last year, we partnered with Wes Studi to create a five-part PSA series around the widely held misconceptions related to Native American people, history, and funding. Learn more on our blog: PWNA Partners With Legendary Actor Wes Studi
Along with the PSA series, Studi also worked with us to grant two additional scholarships to Native American students pursuing a career in the arts, business, or communications. One of these students is currently working on Martin Scorsese's film Killers of the Flower Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
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1 https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/buffalo-bills-wild-west-show-opens 2 https://time.com/3916680/native-american-hollywood-film/ 3 https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/29/movies/film-telling-the-truth-from-inside-indian-country.html 4 https://nativenewsonline.net/arts-entertainment/rutherford-falls-presents-new-indigenous-narratives-for-american-sitcoms 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wctCDPqS-EA
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