American culture has had two big images of Indians:
1) evil and savage
or
2) noble and natural.
The bad image was most popular until the 1960s, when the good image began to replace it.
Attention: Both images are white people's views of Indians, not Indians' views of themselves!
To see examples of both images and read my captions about them, click on a picture in the gallery below and make the pictures larger.
1) evil and savage
or
2) noble and natural.
The bad image was most popular until the 1960s, when the good image began to replace it.
Attention: Both images are white people's views of Indians, not Indians' views of themselves!
To see examples of both images and read my captions about them, click on a picture in the gallery below and make the pictures larger.
Below on the right is a link to the famous 90-minute Western movie Stagecoach (1939), and on the left is a link to the eight-minute scene from the movie where evil Indians chase white people and John Wayne (on top of the stagecoach) heroically kills many Indians. There is no explanation in the movie of why the Indians are angry at white people, and the white characters don't feel any guilt or regret when killing Indians. The movie is a Hollywood classic that shows the bad image of Indians that was most common in American popular culture until the 1960s.
Below the Stagecoach videos, you can watch a Tom and Jerry cartoon (about Thanksgiving) from 1949. The bad Indian part begins at about five minutes into the video. Watch it!
Below the Stagecoach videos, you can watch a Tom and Jerry cartoon (about Thanksgiving) from 1949. The bad Indian part begins at about five minutes into the video. Watch it!
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