Episode 172: The Foundational Myth Machine - Indigenous Peoples of North America and Hollywood

Dec 14, 2022

This podcast explores the inaccurate and dehumanizing depictions of Indigenous people in Hollywood films. It discusses the role of the US government in shaping narratives, the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes, and the power of storytelling for Indigenous people. The chapter also touches on monuments as historical documents, the need for truthful storytelling and reconciliation, the impact of realizing Santa Claus isn't real, and plans to explore the trope of Indian burial grounds in a future episode.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

The Hollywood Indian: Mythmaking and Genocide

02:17 • 20min

Portrayal of Indigenous Peoples in Western Films

22:16 • 20min

Indigenous Identity and the Power of Storytelling

42:16 • 14min

Monuments as Historical Documents and Ongoing Oppression

56:36 • 1min

Confronting Foundational Myths for Survival

58:06 • 25min

The Illusion of Santa Claus and its Impact on Perspective

01:23:34 • 5min

Exploring the Trope of the Indian Burial Ground and the Concept of Spiritual Sequels

01:28:12 • 3min

Soldiers from the US Cavalry defeat the Plains Indians, securing new territory for their burgeoning empire. A group of settlers fends off an armed Indigenous tribe on horseback in their intrepid effort to conquer new lands. A Civil War hero decides to head for the frontier in its waning days, forging an undying friendship with the Native people there.

Each of these summaries describes a film made within the last hundred years that explores dynamics between white settlers and Indigenous people in North America in what we now know as the United States, and sometimes Canada. The problem, of course, is that these films, and so many others like them, don’t — to say the least — present this history accurately. Instead, since Hollywood’s inception, the viewing public has been primarily fed a diet of reductive, dehumanizing, and paternalistic depictions of Indigenous people.

But why have stories involving Indigenous people so frequently involved the perspectives of white settlers? Why are the vast majority of these stories confined to the genre of the Western, replete with shootouts and stagecoaches? What role does the U.S. government play when it comes to the stories we’re told about Indigenous people, how has the historically simplistic portrayal of Native people benefited the interests of the United States and Canada? And how — above all — was the expansion of US empire westward and, later, across the globe, inextricably linked to the Hollywood project of romanticized Western ideals.

On this episode, we examine the history of Indigenous depictions in Hollywood, looking at the ways the entertainment industry has sanitized the genocide and subsequent enduring abuses of Indigenous people, recycled centuries-old “noble savage” tropes, and argue that Indian dehumanizations wasn’t just an accidental byproduct of white supremacy, but was essential and central to the establishment of America’s sense of self and moral purpose.

Our guest is Anishinaabe writer, broadcaster and arts leader Jesse Wente.