Native Americans make up around 1.3% of the U.S. population, an incredibly small number that somehow manages to be larger than the percentage of speaking roles in film and television that went to Native American actors from 2007 to 2022. Over 16 years, only 0.25% of speaking roles in Hollywood were played by Native Americans—not even a full one percent, but a quarter of it.
Since the beginning of American film, Native Americans have always gotten the short end of the stick with representation. Somehow, the entire Native American population filled with varying personality traits, skin complexions and cultures was forcibly stomped into a big stereotype: brutal “savages” who care little for other human life, alongside being fierce warriors with practically no compassion.
The negative view of Native Americans has always been present in a Eurocentric perspective; since the beginning of European colonization, the group was always viewed as “lesser” than their white counterparts. Their way of life was considered to be more “backward” than the living standards that English men and women set for themselves to follow, and for that, Native Americans were deemed inferior. This way of thinking persisted in America even after it gained independence from Great Britain and officially became a country that valued “liberty” and “justice.”
It is easier to generalize an entire group of people and fit them all into one caricature rather than acknowledging the differences and complexities of each individual within the group. Oversimplifying one’s experiences or actions opens the door wide open for stereotypes to be created, and that is exactly what America did to Native Americans. The main person responsible for spreading a harmful stereotypical perspective of Native Americans was William Frederick Cody, famously known as “Buffalo Bill.”
In 1883, Cody began his show “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West,” in Omaha, Nebraska. These shows included performances with wild animals, sharp shooting, doctor portrayals and recreations of buffalo hunts. Basically, the show made sure to incorporate aspects of the Old West without dwelling too much on the hardships during the time.
“Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” toured hundreds of times all over the United States, and it was even performed eight times around Europe. Cody’s portrayal of the Old West really stuck with audiences, and unfortunately, the way that Native Americans were portrayed in these shows only reinforced the inaccurate conceptions that many had regarding the population.
The “Indians” in Cody’s shows were always the aggressors who seemed to cause every problem that the colonists were having. For example, there would be scenes performed where “Indians” would be on their horses, attacking traveling settlers and their families for no apparent reason.
In the “Indians’” hands would be torches, alongside bows and arrows pointed towards the settlers as they searched through their belongings, and their stagecoaches would be ambushed. In these shows, brash portrayal of historic events such as “Indians” attacking Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer’s forces during the Battle of Little Bighorn would be reenacted.
All that Cody’s shows have done was contribute to the idea that Native Americans were “savages” who would attack without question and held no compassion in their hearts. The more shows Cody did, the more that this view was set into people’s minds; audience members who already had hatred for Native Americans felt more justified in feeling the way they did because of what they were seeing in these shows.
Since Cody’s portrayals, Western filmmakers were inspired to depict Native Americans the same aggressive, bloodthirsty way that was seen in “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.” For example, “Stagecoach” (1939) features this exact stereotype of Native Americans.
The film “Stagecoach” revolves around different people traveling around on a stagecoach to Lordsburg, New Mexico, with each of the travellers’ reasons for traveling varying amongst each other. However, their journeys are complicated by the ever-present threat of the Apache tribe and their leader, Geronimo, on the warpath.
In the movie, Native Americans are put into an incredibly negative light. The Apaches are not even seen until the near end, but the constant threat of them looms over the story right from the beginning. For instance, when the stagecoach makes a stop at a ferry stop, the audience learns that the Apaches burned down both the station and ferry. Without even seeing the faces of those who belong in the tribe, the Native Americans are already being propped up as the villains of the story. When the Apache tribe finally starts their attack, they come in herds while riding on horsebacks with guns and arrows in their grasp. There is nothing but violence from the Apache tribe in the film.
It was as if the Native Americans in the film had a natural instinct for bloodshed; no other character traits are shown besides their supposed bloodlust. There is not a hint of something that could possibly humanize them, like a name for those who belong to the tribe. The only thing that the audience needs to know is that these are “savages” who attack unprovoked and what matters most to them is killing the passengers on the stagecoach.
By taking Native Americans and turning them into nameless and violent people, the movie only furthered the ruthlessly violent stereotype that many seemed to believe about the population. Instead of showing a Native Americans with a more complex character, the ones that the audience sees are only one-dimensional.
There are other films in which Native Americans are depicted more sympathetically than others, with “Dance with Wolves” (1990) being one of them. Compared to “Stagecoach,” the Native Americans were the good guys—the Sioux tribe was portrayed as friendly, compassionate people whose primary goal was protecting their homes. The main character, Lieutenant Dunbar, is curious about their way of life and wants to learn more about them.
This was completely different from what Native Americans were usually written as—the Sioux tribe were not one-sided characters in the background, rather they were filled with certain complexities that were not seen in earlier films, including the Western genre.
However, there was something missing. The most important thing about representation is that there are people who are put into the spotlight to tell their own culture’s story, not only as secondary characters. Native Americans have been deprived of their voice for a long time and Hollywood is guilty of doing this.
For one, there are instances where instead of having an actual Native American to play a Native character, they instead choose someone who is not. For example, in “The Lone Ranger” (2013), Tonto, a Native American character, is played by Johnny Depp.
This casting choice strays from the original “The Lone Ranger” (1949) show since Native American actor Jay Silverheels is the one who portrays Tonto. The most important thing about SIlverheels is that he was a Native American actor who matched the character he was playing; the same can not be said about Depp.
Production companies always try to cover up their inaccurate and often disrespectful casting by saying that there were no actors that matched a certain description. For example, when the news came out of Robert Downey Jr. playing Doctor Doom, who was a character of Romani descent, some critics thought that the casting choice made was okay since there might not have been any Romani actors out there; this is simply not true, however, as there are Romani actors in Hollywood who could accurately portray a Romani character. In the same sense, the amount of Native American characters played by non-Native American actors exemplifies the blatant ignorance Hollywood has. The amount of actual representation that Native Americans receive by Hollywood is just not enough.
To tell authentic and accurate stories about the culture that Native Americans have, there must be more effort put into it. There are about 547 recognized Native American tribes in the United States, and the amount of depictions that could be told are immense. While Hollywood has released some films involving Native Americans in the spotlight such as “Killers of the Flower Moon” (2023) and “Prey” (2022), Hollywood still has a long way to go to accurately and respectfully represent Native Americans on the screen.
