Native American Representations: First Encounters, Distorted Images, and Literary Appropriations

by Gretchen M. Bataille (Editor)

From Columbus's journal jottings about "Indios" to the image of Sacagawea on the dollar coin, from the marauding Indians portrayed in the traditional western to the appearance of Native Americans in Dances with Wolves , from cigar box caricatures to the Crazy Horse monument rising near Mt. Rushmore, Native Americans have been represented—and misrepresented—over the past five centuries. What such depictions mean—what they say, and what they do, historically, culturally, and ideologically—is the subject of this book.

 

In Native American Representations , leading national and international critics of Native literature and culture examine images in a wide range of media from a variety of perspectives to show how depictions and distortions have reflected and shaped cross-cultural exchanges from the arrival of Europeans to today. Focusing on issues of translation, European and American perceptions of land and landscape, teaching approaches, and transatlantic encounters, the authors explore problems of appropriation and advocacy, of cultural sovereignty and respect for the "authentic" text. Most significantly, they ask the reader to consider the "Who controls the representation?"

 

Illuminating and timely, the animated debates and insightful analyses in this book not only showcase some of the most provocative work being done in the field of Native Studies today, but they also set an agenda for its development in the twenty-first century.

Genres: Anthropology

265 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

Reviews

[Michelle Boyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This grouping of essays discusses the representation of Native Americans in different literary and film mediums. As a whole, there is a wealth of information regarding narrative tactics, misguided imagery, issues of appropriation of the 'Indian', and there is a fascinating chapter about how Native individuals viewed white colonizers when they came to the indigenous North America and were out of place.

I hope no one minds, but I'll be listing the essay titles and authors below. In many cases, I'll be jotting down a general note or two about the essays. This may help you if you're looking for specific scholarship.

Introduction by Gretchen M. Bataille
Discusses the 'misrepresentation, commodification, and distortion of indigenous identities' and how those issues have 'existed from the moment of first contact' (1). A really great overview that provided a background for the issues that will be discussed in the text. What I specifically enjoy is that the introduction avoids summarizing each essay before you get to them.

1. As if an Indian were Really an Indian: Native American Voices and Postcolonial Theory by Louis Owens.
Discusses 'strategic location' theory, postcolonial theory, and mentions Edward Said's issues (ie: dismissing Native American writing altogether). Has some really great books in his discussion.

2. The Indians America Loves to Love and Read: American Identity and Cultural Appropriation by Kathryn Shanley
Why are depictions from Tony Hillerman and Kinsella's novels so prevalent? Shanley explores these questions. A nice discussion of 'racial essentialism' is provided. She touches upon identity, especially in regards to the ever-present question 'how do we know which authors are Indian' and/or 'does author identity matter'?

3. Return of the Buffalo: Cultural Representation as Cultural Property by David L. Moore
Discusses the politics and economics behind the buffalo, the 'Vanishing Indian' motif, and sovereignty. I absolutely fell in love with the following quote: "the Buffalo is the sign of America's self-contradictory fantasy: both to possess and to destroy the American land and its original peoples" (63).

4. Representations and Cultural Sovereignty: Some Case Studies by David Murray
A must-read chapter for those interested in cultural sovereignty. I cannot believe how many people continue to misuse (or be completely unaware of) the concept of cultural sovereignty. This is a good chapter for reference!

5. Tricksters of the Trade: "Reimagining" the Filmic Image of Native Americans by John Purdy
If you're interested in Disney's Pocahontas or Dances with Wolves this is the chapter for you! While it seems like these films are discussed over and over and over again... there is a good reason for that.

6. Telling Stories for Readers: The Interplay of Orality and Literacy in Clara Pearson's Nehalem Tillamook Tales" by Jarold Ramsey
I'll be honest, this is an oddly specific chapter.

7. Cooperation and Resistance: Native American Collaborative Personal Narrative by Kathleen M. Sands
Discusses ethnography, biography, research, and collaboration. Especially as it pertains to narrative.

8. Western Literary Models and Their Native American Revisiting: The Hybrid Aesthetics of Owen's The Sharpest Sight" by Bernadette Rigal-Cellard
If you like Lewis Owens or are reading The Sharpest Sight this one is for you!

9. Identity and Exchange: The Representation of "The Indian" in the Federalist Writers Project and in Contemporary Native American Literature by Hartwig Iserhagen
Wow. I learned a lot about the FWP and so if you haven't heard of the project, this will be rather insightful.

10. Reversing the Gaze: Early Native American Images of Europeans and Euro-Americans by A. Lavonne Brown Ruoff
At first, I thought this was a 4-star book. Then I got to this essay. AMAZING. There is a lot to say about the significance of oral history within this chapter. We also get to learn a lot about what Native people thought about colonizers. As it were... the colonizers spoke a weird language, were acting quite strange, were violent, etc. Shift the perspective--it is needed. This is a really good essay for that and does touch a lot upon resistance.

11. Metacritical Frames of Reference in Studying American Indian Literature: An Afterward by Kathryn Shanley
A brief, but good, afterward that sums up the problem(s) with representations of American Indians.