Stereotypes of American Indians

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Wise American Indian chief from the movie Drums Across the River

This article discusses the various stereotypes of American Indians present in Western societies. American Indians are indigenous peoples native to the continent of America prior to European settlement, and are also often referred to as Native Americans. This article primarily discusses Native American stereotypes present in American culture, but the same or similar stereotypes are present in many other Western societies as well. Stereotypical representations of people of Native American heritage are often manifested in a society's media, literature, theatre and other creative expressions, but often have very real repercussions for American Indians in daily interactions and in current events.

The Media Awareness Network of Canada (MNet) has prepared a number of statements about the portrayals of American Indian and Alaskan Natives in the media:

Westerns and documentaries have tended to portray Natives as stereotypes: the wise elder, the aggressive drunk, the Indian princess, the loyal sidekick. These images have become ingrained in the consciousness of all North Americans.
Hollywood's portrayal of the American West essentially used Native tribes as a malignant presence to be wiped out or reined in.
Portrayals of Native characters as primitive, violent and deceptive, or as passive and full of childlike obedience, extended to TV, novels and comics.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) made efforts to improve the portrayals of Aboriginal people in its television dramas. Spirit Bay, The Beachcombers, North of 60 and The Rez used Native actors to portray their own people, living real lives and earning believable livelihoods in identifiable parts of the country.
U.S. television has been slower to respond to criticisms of native stereotyping, although there have been a few efforts to change the situation.
Stereotyped issues include simplistic characterizations, romanticization of Native culture, and stereotyping by omission—showing American Indians in a historical rather than modern context. ^[1]