Making the White Man's Indian: Native Americans and Hollywood Movies

by Angela Aleiss

The image in Hollywood movies of savage Indians attacking white settlers represents only one side of a very complicated picture. In fact sympathetic portrayals of Native Americans stood alongside those of hostile Indians in the silent films of D. W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille, and flourished during the early 1930s with Hollywood's cycle of pro-Indian adventures. Decades later, the stereotype became even more complicated, as films depicted the savagery of whites ( The Searchers ) in contrast to the more peaceful Indian ( Broken Arrow ). By 1990 the release of Dances with Wolves appeared to have recycled the romantic and savage portrayals embedded in early cinema. In this new study, author Angela Aleiss traces the history of Native Americans on the silver screen, and breaks new ground by drawing on primary sources such as studio correspondence, script treatments, trade newspapers, industry censorship files, and filmmakers' interviews to reveal how and why Hollywood created its Indian characters. Behind-the-scenes anecdotes of filmmakers and Native Americans, as well as rare archival photographs, supplement the discussion, which often shows a stark contrast between depiction and reality.

The book traces chronologically the development of the Native American's screen image while also examining many forgotten or lost Western films. Each chapter will feature black and white stills from the films discussed.

Genres: History, Film

232 pages, Hardcover

First published September 5, 2000

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a contribution to the rethinking of the history of the American West, stripped of the mythologies created by the world of film and the arts. History is written by the victors, it's been said--and perpetuated by storytellers. And a good storyteller never lets the facts interfere.

The story as told by film historian Angela Aleiss is in the spirit of such historians as Patricia Nelson Limerick, helping us get an understanding of our past less influenced by prejudices, political exigencies, and most importantly, entertainment values.

The core of Making the White Man's Indian is a compendium of some 400 Hollywood films featuring Native Americans, back to the earliest 100 years ago. Most remarkably the author actually viewed and prepared annotations for all 400, along with studying the available archival documents for each. (In a note she acknowledges limits to her research--copyright issues and other objections prevented her access to important background work for example, from Clint Eastwood and Kevin Costner records.) I found the writing style clear, straightforward, and smooth. The words dissolved into thoughts invisibly.

So we have here a chronological encyclopedia of the history of such films, with notes and occasional reviewer comments, with the author's observations of political and cultural events at the time. For those of us who have come to appreciate them, this is something of a meta-approach to the Making of featurettes that have been produced to accompany DVD viewing. It makes for great and very interesting reading, most especially for readers who have actually seen the subject films or want to know more about the production and the associated people--directors, producers, screen talent. I especially enjoyed reading about Costner's hugely successful Dances with Wolves, and the 1980 film A Man Named Horse, one of my first encounters with Native American culture, with its explicit (and gory) portrayal of the Sun Dance Ceremony.

In recent years these socially-conscious updates of the historical record have been initiated and driven by personal agendas by the minorities involved--seeking justice in their portrayal, so to speak. Refreshing in this work is that there is no such personal agenda. The author is a noted film historian setting the record straight as a *non* Native American. There is a noted dispassion about the presentation that is refreshing and credible, bolstered by the clarity and transparency in presenting careful notes and thorough documentation references. There's not a trace of victim or angst, not a trace of blaming or, for me, the subtle pressure to apologize, feel White Man's Guilt, justify. Just read, learn, adjust my understandings.

Making the White Man's Indian is an important contribution to our view of our world and all its complexities.

[Michelle Boyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely something that I would recommend for those interested in a 'crash course' regarding Native Americans in Hollywood cinema. This book includes a discussion of the silent film era, cultural divisions, interracial romances and the stereotypes they provided, the use of war imagery in film, other discussion of prominent stereotypes, and of course there is a discussion that revolves around the Western.

There are also two very nice appendices that list both screened motion pictures and those in the Motion Pictures Archives. A handy reference to have on hand.

While it doesn't delve too deeply into individual films, it does offer examples of different films to make its claims. Definitely useful for starting off with in the classroom, or just for curious readers.

[Sharon McElroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good research on Hollywood Westerns and their Native American images. Reveals many Indian filmmakers and actors most are not familiar with. Also, she discusses many movies that actually do have sympathetic portrayals but scholars have overlooked.

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting subject matter but the writing can be very dry in places.