In recent times, the media environment appears to be expanding, enabling the infiltration of alternative perspectives. Unfortunately, I observed no evidence of significant changes in these stereotypes during my research period, especially in television.
The contrast between the “savage” and the “noble savage” is sometimes referred to as tropes. These protagonists, led by Euro-American characters, are portrayed as “good” while Indigenous characters are often depicted as “bad” in historical dramas and westerns, particularly prior to seeking help for their injuries or needing anything else. American media has a long history of emphasizing the distinction between “good” and “bad” Indigenous characters.
On the Prairie, the television series Little House on the Prairie, which aired from the 1970s to early 1980s and was set in the late 19th-century American Midwest, we witness a Native Osage man opposing the killing of illegal Euro-American squatters in Indian Territory. Settler Pa Ingalls exclaims, “That’s one commendable Indian!” In the meantime, other Indigenous individuals are depicted as wandering across the land “like untamed creatures.” As Osage journalist Dennis McAuliffe Jr. Discusses in his writings about Little House on the Prairie, the Osage man’s kindness is not reciprocated. Native Americans who are portrayed as “good” characters are expected to consistently and willingly prioritize the needs of the colonizers over those of their own community. Any behavior that deviates from this, even if it is nonviolent protest, is usually depicted as “evil,” “savage,” or “backward.” “When settlers enter a country, the Indians have to relocate,” Pa Ingalls later states.
Several years later, these two conflicting Indigenous categories can still be observed. The Pawnee fighters, who assaulted settlers, are dreaded by viewers in the 1990 popular movie Dances With Wolves, set on the American frontier. However, the Lakota Sioux, who embraced and raised a Caucasian girl and hosted white Lt. John Dunbar, the protagonist of the film, are celebrated. In the 1992 successful film The Last of the Mohicans, the Indigenous males, who endanger their lives to safeguard the British women accompanying those white soldiers, are supported, while the adversary, a Native, assaults a group of British soldiers.
It is puzzling why there is not an equivalent widespread fascination for indigenous characters who advocate for the rights of their own people. It is crucial to pay tribute to indigenous characters who strive to foster peace. Despite their kindness and helpfulness, indigenous characters are frequently destined to meet a tragic fate. While Dunbar manages to survive his predicament, his Lakota Sioux friends do not. The title of “The Last of the Mohicans” is self-explanatory, even though the Mohicans, known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, still exist.