more thoughts on Native American portrayals

I referenced a book review I had done on Robert Remini. Remini is a respected scholar, has been commissioned to do work for the U.S. government on numerous projects, is a Professor Emeritus (I believe in Illinois), and so forth...in other words, this is a respected, award winning scholar. He is not some nut job who thinks every assasination that ever happened is a government conspiracy, etc., and that aliens have landed and are secretly running things. This is a man who, while I don't happen to agree with his assesment of Andrew Jackson, is nevertheless an intelligent, and above all, NORMAL human being.
And that is important. When I am doing my research for and writing on Dreamcatchers, the understanding and assesment of how Native Americans were viewed that I am looking for is from people like Remini...people who are neither so far left wing they believe no Indian ever did anything wrong nor so far...I hesitate to say right wing because I never knew a right winger who believed this way, but saying "hyper-patriot" doesn't ring true either...but whatever label is, the people who believe all taking of Indian land was justified because of Native American aggression and the "right" of Manifest Destiny, both of those views are so extreme that I discount them from being "mainstream".
The mainstream view of Indians is what I am looking at. And seriously, for much of our history, that view was heavily influenced by pop culture presentation. The impact of Buffalo Bills shows is hard to overstate. For many, perhaps even most U.S. citizens in the late 19th and early 20th century, the only interaction they had with Indians was shows such as Buffalo Bills...and as the premiere show, he set the tone. Copy cats had similar events where the "barbaric, bloodthirsty, war-whooping savages" would attack the innocent, nigh defenseless white pioneers in the wagon. That was what the U.S. saw. That was what South America saw. That was what Europe saw.
Just to illustrate the importance and impact, Buffalo Bill and shows like his performed for the crowned heads of Europe. It was a major event. And those performances, touted as "realistic representations of real-life events" became the currency for the dialogue regarding Indian affairs.
Hence the Indian was, in the U.S. consciousness, a relentless, powerful, ruthless enemy who was ever a threat. He was someone to be feared and defeated.
Men like Will Rogers, Jim Thorpe, Chief Bender were men to be admired, cheered for, and considered to be anomalies who had "risen above" their race to become "useful". It was never considered that perhaps they were representative of their people and more "real" than the touring shows.
The same thing holds true today. As responsible citizens we should be careful when we see constant portrayals that reiterate the same view over and over. Not all blacks are rythym driven, rap loving sports fanatics any more than all whites are hunting, fishing, baseball cap wearing dudes driving high rise 4x4s. People are real, with differences that cannot be ignored or relegated to fiction and fantasy.
I tend to believe many of the stereotypes today about Native Americans are just as harmful as the old ones of the "noble warrior" or the "bloodthirsty savage". The assumption that every Native American somehow has some mystical connection to the land and animals is just as mis-guided and inaccurate. The idea every Native American is a born fighter with unbreakable courage...ridiculous. The thought that peyote is part of all Native American spirituality is so far removed from historical truth as to be almost unmentionable. The idea that all Indians share a brotherhood...Tecumseh, Chief Pontiac, and Powhatan could easily convince you otherwise...as could the thousands of Indians who were tracked down by their deadliest enemies...other tribes...during the Indian Wars.
I think a lot of positive ground has been covered in the last century or so, but there is more ground to cover. The very people who want to associate themselves with the Native American ideals through dropping Dreamcathers on their rearview mirrors are perhaps the people furthest from the ideal...the Dreamcatcher was a sacred item to be treated with reverence and respect, not dropped in where an air freshener used to be. The basic misunderstanding of what is important to the people you are "honoring"...ridiculous.
It was well demonstrated in the 60s. Portions of the hippie movement, in their attempt to get "back to nature" and "connect with mother earth (has there ever been a stupider, more offensive phrase than "Mother Earth"?) moved in on Native American practices, including heavy participation in sweat lodges.
How successful were they in understanding and participating in Native American spirituality? Well, everyone from militaristic AIM leaders Russell Means and Dennis Banks to more sedate Council members like Vine Deloria Jr. universally condemned them for their sacriligous, offensive behavior, their abuse and blasphemy of the purpose of the sweat lodge. And the comments on hippie use of peyote go much further.
There is a valuable lesson to be learned there. The problem is...too many people in society today are so interested in being the good neighbor they never bother to figure out how to be that neighbor and instead project their own assumptions on what would make them into the g.n. onto the Native Americans. Hopefully some day that will change.