Tinseltown_vs_Natives

Many people have this image of why Indians look and act the way they do. Indians are extremely labeled by the way movies depict them to be. Indians are spiritual and have a sense of their own culture. “How to Play Indians” is basically a step-by-step version of how to be like an Indian. In “The Searchers”, the Indians are just like this how-to manual. “I Hate Tonto and I Still do” has a hatred of this Indian named Tonto, who is the Indian character in the “Lone Ranger”, because he gives the Indian culture a bad name. All of these works have one common interest and that is the Indian society. The Indians or as others call them the Native Americans have been stereotyped because Americans and Hollywood think that Indians act a certain way. Several believe that Indians are hateful people because that is what they see in the movies. Hollywood has created the Indians with the image of being a servant to the white people or they are savages who want to kill any white men. In John Ford’s “The Searchers”, numerous viewers rooted for John Wayne to find his niece who was kidnapped by an Indian tribe. Alexie, who is a Native American, stated, I mean, jeez, they had kidnapped Natalie Wood, transcendent white beauty who certainly didn't deserve to be nuzzled, nibbled, or nipped by some Indian warrior, especially an Indian warrior who only spoke in monosyllables and whose every movement was accompanied by ominous music. This coming from an Indian himself has proven a fact that even the actual Indians are rooting against their own when they are seen acting like this. They root against their own people because they know this is not how they act. As well as in “How to Play Indians”, they describe an Indian tribe and how they should attack a white isolated families’ farm. Weaver explains in this how-to article, In preparing to attack this isolated farm, send only one man to spy on it at night. Approaching a lighted window, he must at length a white woman inside, until she has become aware of the Indian face pressed up against the pane. Await the woman’s cry and the exit of the men before attempting the escape. This also gives the Indians a terrible image because they still are seen as bad people. “How to Play Indians” and “The Searchers” had a lot in common regarding of how the Indians acted. They both show the Indians of being the villain between them and the white men. The Indians are shown as villains because they are the minority in the movies. Alexie’s “I Hate Tonto and I Still do” portray the Indian a little differently than the other two pieces. Tonto is the Indian from the show “The Lone Ranger” who saves the Lone Ranger cowboy from dying. Tonto becomes the servant of the Lone Ranger to help nurse him back to health. Alexie’s reason for hating Tonto is explained, “I was just one little Indian boy who hated Tonto because Tonto was the only cinematic Indian who looked like me.” He has this hatred for Tonto because in most movies it is not an actual Indian playing the role of one. This Native American, Alexie, also hated Tonto because “The Lone Ranger” television show illustrates that the Indian is below the white cowboy because of his race. Alexie did not like the fact that Tonto looked like him because he did not want to be portrayed below white men. The female Indian in “The Searchers” was also treated this way. She was accidently traded to be a white man’s wife for a couple of hats that the Indian chief liked. Martin, who is a part of the white men group, wanted an Indian blanket she made and was willing to trade his hats for it. Little did he know he was trading the hats for the blanket and for a new wife. She waited on Martin and Ethan because that was all she was taught to do, although, she was treated very poorly. Indians are stereotyped as being barbaric and also servants to the white people, but why is that' Hollywood has made these movies of Indians being the villain of the plot and the white men always saving the day. These movies have created the image in the American’s mind that this is actually how the Indians really act. Why are white men above and have the seniority or Indians' Many people believe that the American white settlers were the first people to settle on North America. However, many people forget the fact that the Native Americans were here long before the white men step foot on North American ground. So why are the white men not below the Indians' White males are usually the ones writing these scripts and plots for movies. The Indians are the minorities because of these white men producing these western films. Works Cited Alexie, Sherman. “I Hated Tonto [Still Do].” Modern American Poetry. 28 June 1998. Los Angeles Times. 8 Feb. 2010 . Eco, Umberto. “How to Travel with a Salmon & Other Essays.” Trans. William Weaver. NY: Harvest, 1992. Print. The Searchers. Dir. John Ford. Perf. John Wayne, Jeffery Hunter, Vera Miles, and Natalie Wood. Warner Bros, 1956. DVD.